Leyland says Tigers just too nice
03/15/2006
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- A year after the "milk-and-cookies" Tigers were supposedly gone, now they apparently smell like Old Spice.
Tigers manager Jim Leyland hasn't had a bad word to say about his players. They've listened, they've been polite, they've acted like good teammates. Still, he sensed something was out of place.
Then Tuesday night, he figured it out. They're actually too nice.
"This team, it has no personality," Leyland said Wednesday afternoon. "It has no charisma. It has good players. It's got the nicest guys you'll ever meet. I wish I had a couple more [jerks]. I wish people would rant and rave a little bit more. I believe this in all my heart: This team needs to establish some identity. It has none from what I've seen so far."
But Leyland isn't talking about just any personality. He means a meaner one, a swagger. He appreciates the business-like attitude that was emphasized when the rebuilding process began three years ago, but this is a different kind of business.
"They're as nice a group of guys as I've ever been around," he said. "But they come in and it's like a guy who goes to work at his job at an office. He gets up. He gets his briefcase. He goes to his office. He sets it down. He gets a cup of coffee. He goes up. He does his thing. And at 5 o'clock, he picks up his briefcase, he gets in his car and he drives home.
"In between, I want to see a fight once in a while. I want to see somebody mad at me, or somebody throwing a stool. And I don't know that you can make guys do this."
It's an odd request unless you consider the source. Aside from winning, Leyland's reputation is built on getting the best out of veteran players who have been difficult for other managers. It's not that Leyland puts up with them. In some ways, Leyland welcomes them.
"I've never been around a nicer bunch of guys, and good players," Leyland said about the Tigers. "But you know what? Every good player I've ever been around has that little streak of electricity in him. Some people call it a [jerk]. Every good player I've ever met, and I'm not being disrespectful, has a little [jerk] in him. I don't mean a mean person outside or mean to other people, but mean when you go up there to play and you take the field. And this club has not shown any of that.
"It sounds terrible, but these guys were raised too good."
As he explained all this, Leyland time and again said he didn't mean this as a criticism. He called it an issue more than a problem. But it's a difference he sees that separates the good teams from the rest. Good teams have a presence when they're on the field.
He doesn't think it's a matter of the Tigers becoming used to losing, because he took over a Pirates ballclub that had some of the same problems in the mid-1980s. By the 1990s, they had a swagger with Barry Bonds, Bobby Bonilla and Andy Van Slyke. He suspects this team just has a different personality.
"When the good teams take the field, there's an aroma," he said. "There's an odor, there's a feeling. Well, we all smell like Old Spice. And I want some different stuff."
Ironically, Leyland's remarks came on the same day one of the most competitive Tigers went to work. With the wind blowing out at Al Lang Field, Jeremy Bonderman gave up five runs on seven hits in four innings, striking out four. A line like that in the regular season wouldn't leave Bonderman in a good mood. He can take it a little better in Spring Training.
The assertion from Leyland, though, caught Bonderman by surprise.
"I guess I can see that a little bit," said Bonderman, who as a rookie took a bat to the dugout hallway in Minnesota. "But I feel like when I take the mound, I take the mound with confidence. I'll throw it up and in on you. I don't care if you're [ticked] or not. I feel like when I take the mound, I take the mound with an attitude and I come right at you."
Keep in mind, too, that this is largely the same team that was supposed to have an attitude last year. After bowling over then-Yankees catcher John Flaherty last March 5, Dmitri Young took stitches on his bloody ear and declared, "The days of the nice Tigers are gone." He also said, "Milk-and-cookies teams finish last."
The niceness certainly waned last year, whether it was Pudge slamming his bat after popping up, Carlos Guillen charging the mound against Runelvys Hernandez or players ranting in September about what went wrong during the season. Any presence, though, was scattered at best, and it only seemed to show in games Bonderman pitched.
"When you watch good players take the field," Leyland said, "when they walk out of that batting cage, there's an air of confidence. There's a sense about those guys. The ultimate is Barry Bonds. He doesn't care about who's pitching, how they throw, where they came from. He knows he's going to whack 'em. And he believes it. And he does it. That's the kind of stuff I'm talking about."
Maybe it's because it's Spring Training, and Leyland is trying to test guys. But Leyland says he doesn't see it, and he doesn't know if he can teach it. This might be one way to bring it out.
"My concern is that a lot of times, you can't change people," he said. "It's not like I'm trying to change the people. I want to change the atmosphere. I want a swagger. I don't want us tiptoeing out there. I want a swagger. When we take the field, I want a [darn] swagger. That's what I want."
Source: http://detroit.tigers.mlb.com/
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- A year after the "milk-and-cookies" Tigers were supposedly gone, now they apparently smell like Old Spice.
Tigers manager Jim Leyland hasn't had a bad word to say about his players. They've listened, they've been polite, they've acted like good teammates. Still, he sensed something was out of place.
Then Tuesday night, he figured it out. They're actually too nice.
"This team, it has no personality," Leyland said Wednesday afternoon. "It has no charisma. It has good players. It's got the nicest guys you'll ever meet. I wish I had a couple more [jerks]. I wish people would rant and rave a little bit more. I believe this in all my heart: This team needs to establish some identity. It has none from what I've seen so far."
But Leyland isn't talking about just any personality. He means a meaner one, a swagger. He appreciates the business-like attitude that was emphasized when the rebuilding process began three years ago, but this is a different kind of business.
"They're as nice a group of guys as I've ever been around," he said. "But they come in and it's like a guy who goes to work at his job at an office. He gets up. He gets his briefcase. He goes to his office. He sets it down. He gets a cup of coffee. He goes up. He does his thing. And at 5 o'clock, he picks up his briefcase, he gets in his car and he drives home.
"In between, I want to see a fight once in a while. I want to see somebody mad at me, or somebody throwing a stool. And I don't know that you can make guys do this."
It's an odd request unless you consider the source. Aside from winning, Leyland's reputation is built on getting the best out of veteran players who have been difficult for other managers. It's not that Leyland puts up with them. In some ways, Leyland welcomes them.
"I've never been around a nicer bunch of guys, and good players," Leyland said about the Tigers. "But you know what? Every good player I've ever been around has that little streak of electricity in him. Some people call it a [jerk]. Every good player I've ever met, and I'm not being disrespectful, has a little [jerk] in him. I don't mean a mean person outside or mean to other people, but mean when you go up there to play and you take the field. And this club has not shown any of that.
"It sounds terrible, but these guys were raised too good."
As he explained all this, Leyland time and again said he didn't mean this as a criticism. He called it an issue more than a problem. But it's a difference he sees that separates the good teams from the rest. Good teams have a presence when they're on the field.
He doesn't think it's a matter of the Tigers becoming used to losing, because he took over a Pirates ballclub that had some of the same problems in the mid-1980s. By the 1990s, they had a swagger with Barry Bonds, Bobby Bonilla and Andy Van Slyke. He suspects this team just has a different personality.
"When the good teams take the field, there's an aroma," he said. "There's an odor, there's a feeling. Well, we all smell like Old Spice. And I want some different stuff."
Ironically, Leyland's remarks came on the same day one of the most competitive Tigers went to work. With the wind blowing out at Al Lang Field, Jeremy Bonderman gave up five runs on seven hits in four innings, striking out four. A line like that in the regular season wouldn't leave Bonderman in a good mood. He can take it a little better in Spring Training.
The assertion from Leyland, though, caught Bonderman by surprise.
"I guess I can see that a little bit," said Bonderman, who as a rookie took a bat to the dugout hallway in Minnesota. "But I feel like when I take the mound, I take the mound with confidence. I'll throw it up and in on you. I don't care if you're [ticked] or not. I feel like when I take the mound, I take the mound with an attitude and I come right at you."
Keep in mind, too, that this is largely the same team that was supposed to have an attitude last year. After bowling over then-Yankees catcher John Flaherty last March 5, Dmitri Young took stitches on his bloody ear and declared, "The days of the nice Tigers are gone." He also said, "Milk-and-cookies teams finish last."
The niceness certainly waned last year, whether it was Pudge slamming his bat after popping up, Carlos Guillen charging the mound against Runelvys Hernandez or players ranting in September about what went wrong during the season. Any presence, though, was scattered at best, and it only seemed to show in games Bonderman pitched.
"When you watch good players take the field," Leyland said, "when they walk out of that batting cage, there's an air of confidence. There's a sense about those guys. The ultimate is Barry Bonds. He doesn't care about who's pitching, how they throw, where they came from. He knows he's going to whack 'em. And he believes it. And he does it. That's the kind of stuff I'm talking about."
Maybe it's because it's Spring Training, and Leyland is trying to test guys. But Leyland says he doesn't see it, and he doesn't know if he can teach it. This might be one way to bring it out.
"My concern is that a lot of times, you can't change people," he said. "It's not like I'm trying to change the people. I want to change the atmosphere. I want a swagger. I don't want us tiptoeing out there. I want a swagger. When we take the field, I want a [darn] swagger. That's what I want."
Source: http://detroit.tigers.mlb.com/
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home