Leyland is one (terrible) (guy)
posted in 2008 season |WOW!
Jim Leyland fights back!
After a couple of weeks of passivity, leading me to conclude the Tigers needed to change directions, the Tigers manager went off on his team following some quotes that showed up in USA Today in an article by Bob Nightengale.
Jason Beck has the best rundown, but you should read both his quotes and the Freep’s to get a complete picture. (Or better yet, Daily Fungo Mike alerts me you can also hear them for yourself at WXYT.com. As Mike said to me, you HAVE to listen to those quotes. They are (terribly) funny because he’s quite pissed off. It’s the only way you get the true flavor. And don’t worry, they’re beeped. Just make sure there’s no dogs around because at one point it’s almost all beeps!)
The basics are this: Former Tiger Jason Grilli, along with Brandon Inge and Gary Sheffield, as well as Carlos Guillen, gave some quotes to the effects that the clubhouse may not be real great this year. (“Stale and stagnant” were Grilli’s words.) And expectations were “unfair.” (Guillen’s word). These quotes made Leyland MAD. And mad Leyland CRUSHES things. Grilli haters will be glad to know he reallllly doesn’t want to hear what a former Tiger thinks. He doesn’t like players who don’t want high expectations. And I’m pretty sure he cryptically told Sheffield and Inge to shut their mouthes and start hitting.
Two highlights:
“I mean, please. Jason Grilli ought to just worry about Colorado. Jason Grilli’s not here any longer because Jason Grilli didn’t pitch good under pressure situations and didn’t pitch very well in Detroit. (quoted at Beck’s Blog)
And
“I’m a man. When I’m (terrible), I’m (terrible), and right now I’m (terrible),” said Leyland, who used an expletive that in effect means “terrible.”
“And there are a few (guys) in that clubhouse right now that are (terrible), and they need to look in that mirror. Don’t look in mine. Look in theirs.
“Don’t point fingers. That’s weak.”
(quoted at Freep.com)
Terrible, in case you wondered, is the Freep’s fill-in for probably the best multipurpose word ever invented.
I like this Leyland. I wondered where he went. This is the kind of Jim Leyland I want to see as Tigers manager. This is the guy who took the losers of Detroit in spring training of 2006 and told them to carry themselves like winners. He knows that people only have high expectations for good teams, and doesn’t want to hear any of his players afraid of being expected to win. This is the guy who saw his team not caring in April of 2006 and berated them. This year, he tried to claim his players were successful professionals and they shouldn’t (or didn’t) need the prodding to be successful. Well, it turns out he was wrong. He realized it. He saw some things in the press he didn’t like. And he branded their behinds with a red-hot poker.
Will it work? Who knows. But am I glad to see Leyland go down swinging (and swearing)? You bet your (terrible) (rear end) I am!
(edit: cleaned up, added state and stagnant link)
Sphere It
