Brent
06-09-2006, 08:36 PM
I have to say it: We're doing OK (http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news;_ylt=AokkQIQqCpdhxB7QhML2J3URvLYF?slug=ihavet osayitweredoingok&prov=tsn&type=lgns)
By Todd Jones - SportingNews
The top of this article should come with a big disclaimer. Players usually don't like talking about their teams when things are going well, but in keeping with the theme of this week's Sporting News, I'll admit the Tigers are playing good ball.
So what's up with the club? Who are we? The answer's pretty simple: It all starts at the top.
Dave Dombrowski hired Jim Leyland as manager in the offseason. I thought it was the same old story: The GM brings in a manager he has won with. The GM wants to feel comfortable looking his guy in the face when tough decisions are made.
Jim came in and set the tone in spring training. He tried to find out as much as he could about everyone. He met with maybe 10 core guys and sought their input on issues like music in the clubhouse, kids on the field for BP and dress code on the road.
He had the final say, but it made us feel like we had some control on noncore issues. Some rules, like curfew on the road, are untouchable, and that's cool.
But Jim knew he had to get players to buy into his philosophy so
we'd go to war for him. And we have so far.
Jim reminds us not to get caught up in the attention -- after all, the Detroit media are waiting for the other shoe to drop. The skeptics still are out there. What they don't get is that we don't care about them. The players don't have huge expectations they feel they must meet. We just play, and it's fun -- is it OK to say it's fun?
We aren't cocky, because we have nothing to be cocky about. The franchise has been a laughingstock for a long time. We're just grinding it out, night after night.
If you want to know where the Tigers' roar starts, go sit in the manager's office.
Todd Jones is a Tigers reliever. E-mail him at tjones@sportingnews.com.
By Todd Jones - SportingNews
The top of this article should come with a big disclaimer. Players usually don't like talking about their teams when things are going well, but in keeping with the theme of this week's Sporting News, I'll admit the Tigers are playing good ball.
So what's up with the club? Who are we? The answer's pretty simple: It all starts at the top.
Dave Dombrowski hired Jim Leyland as manager in the offseason. I thought it was the same old story: The GM brings in a manager he has won with. The GM wants to feel comfortable looking his guy in the face when tough decisions are made.
Jim came in and set the tone in spring training. He tried to find out as much as he could about everyone. He met with maybe 10 core guys and sought their input on issues like music in the clubhouse, kids on the field for BP and dress code on the road.
He had the final say, but it made us feel like we had some control on noncore issues. Some rules, like curfew on the road, are untouchable, and that's cool.
But Jim knew he had to get players to buy into his philosophy so
we'd go to war for him. And we have so far.
Jim reminds us not to get caught up in the attention -- after all, the Detroit media are waiting for the other shoe to drop. The skeptics still are out there. What they don't get is that we don't care about them. The players don't have huge expectations they feel they must meet. We just play, and it's fun -- is it OK to say it's fun?
We aren't cocky, because we have nothing to be cocky about. The franchise has been a laughingstock for a long time. We're just grinding it out, night after night.
If you want to know where the Tigers' roar starts, go sit in the manager's office.
Todd Jones is a Tigers reliever. E-mail him at tjones@sportingnews.com.