Most of you probably heard about what happened last night before the Tigers beat the Mariners, 12-8. Jim Leyland spoke to the media about some comments former Tigers relief pitcher Jason Grilli made in an article in USA Today. Grilli said, "The Tigers have no chemistry and and there are too many cliques in the clubhouse." Well, Leyland took major offense to that and sounded off about it during his pregame news conference.
I ran :50 of Leyland's rant during my sportscast last night, but I managed to find the entire transcript today. So I decided to clip and paste here.
Let me know your thoughts after you read it. Was Leyland in the right? Should he have just kept his mouth shut like he does in most cases?
You decide
Here is the majority of Leyland's rant.
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"I find that hard to believe that that has anything to do with somebody not getting a run in. I mean, would I like this to be a little more close-knit? Yes. Do I buy a lot of people when they start talking about that, and some of it comes from players, I think they ought to look at themselves in the mirror. I think it's diversionary tactics, and I really take offense to Jason Grilli's thing about not having Sean Casey. You have to be kidding me. 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. You want to tell it like it is? When players want to start talking, I'll start talking. But I'm very reserved about stuff like that. Jason Grilli ought to worry about Colorado, not Detroit.
"Don't misunderstand what I'm saying. I miss Sean Casey. But Sean Casey doesn't have anything to do with the fact that the Tigers are where we're at. Now let's get that straight right now. And people want to start talking about things and this and that, what this guy's doing, what that guy's doing, they should look in the mirror. They should look right in that mirror, look at themselves and see what they're doing. And what some of these guys are doing on this club, the last thing they should be doing is popping off in the newspaper. They're diversionary tactics and they look foolish. You can quote every bit of that. There's nothing wrong with inside the clubhouse. The problem here is in between the lines. That's where the problem is. But everybody looks for an excuse, and to me, that's a weak excuse. Look in the mirror. Are you knocking in runs? Are you getting hits? Are you doing your share? And if you don't like what's going on in the clubhouse and you're a player, then say something about it. Put a name to it. Stick your chest out and put a name to it."
The other issue he had was with Carlos Guillen. Here's what Guillen said in the story:
"We never said we were going to win 100 games. All we said was that we have a good team with good players. That was the (sports) media and fans doing the talking. You don't win games looking good on paper. You've got to do it on the field. That wasn't fair to us."
Here's Leyland's response:
"It isn't fair all of a sudden for people to have expectations? Well, why wasn't it fair? What are you talking about, it wasn't fair? You're supposed to love the expectations. You're saying it wasn't fair to have expectations? What are you talking about? I'm a grown man. I can take my heat, and I deserve some for the performance of this club. But you better be careful when you're a player. If you're hitting .200 and .220 and striking out or hitting .200 and .215, you shouldn't be popping off, in my opinion, about other situations. You ought to be taking care of your own business. If they want to play games, I'll play games, and it won't be long [before] I'll put names to it, if they want me to. I'm not quite to that point yet. They want to play games, I'll play games. I'll quit protecting some of these guys night after night after night after night. And I'll put some names to it."
Overall, eyland's problem was with current players going off in the press:
"If players want to play games in the press, I'll play games in the press. And it won't be very pretty. That doesn't have anything to do with a guy hanging a slider or missing a fastball right down the [middle], throwing the ball away. That has nothing to do with it. That's a weak excuse. That's a lame excuse."
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So, did Leyland do the right thing here? Or is this step number one in the complete crumbling of the Tigers clubhouse and the exit of Leyland?
Bottom line folks, it ain't comfy right now in Detroit. Dave Dombrowski can spin it however he wants it but I've been in the broadcasting business for almost 20 years; when stuff like this leaks out, not only is it usually true, it's definitely not good. And now Leyland is deciding to no longer protect his players in the media.
Winning will cure everything, but if they don't start doing that on a regular basis soon, I think we as Tigers fans can expect more of these rants and player call-outs.
If Leyland has more to say, I will have it in my sportscast tonight on Fox 17 News at Ten. So please remember to check it out.
Brent