I believe it was crazy Olaf “Swede” Henrikibsen that said…“A clubhouse is like a ship; everyone ought to be prepared to jump!”
Veteran insight invaluable
What veteran players bring to the table is experience and know-how and Frank Thomas had both. Just look at his numbers, they speak for themselves. When a young player is around a veteran like Thomas, they can talk to him about different situations, like how to solve a certain pitcher that is tough for them to hit against. The veteran can give insight on that pitcher because he has faced him several times and can pass on something he has picked up about that pitcher. That is invaluable and can make your team better, especially in the clutch.
I remember for the “Drive of ’85” Pat Gillick brought in Al Oliver, a proven veteran clutch hitter. One of the first things “Scoop” - as we called him - did was to have the team over to his home in Arlington, Texas. He wanted to get to know us and for us to know him, so he rented two buses and had a big dinner party. He made his way around to every player and talked hitting and winning that night. It set the tone for the rest of the season. We went on to win the American League East and Scoop was a huge part of that drive.
That’s one reason why I was surprised to hear manager Jim Leyland of the Detroit Tigers say that “chemistry is overrated, winning is the important thing.” Well, his team is not winning right now, so maybe he needs to rethink that philosophy.
Tigers need their own “Scoop”
What they need is an “Al Oliver” to come in and take the bull by the horn. The atmosphere has to be changed so that they can start winning and winning can create better chemistry.
Repoz
Posted: April 23, 2008 at 02:29 AM |
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1. TuqueI feel as though a lot of sportswriters fail to take into consideration that "proven veterans" like Frank Thomas tend to be much, much more naturally gifted than the youngsters they are talking to. Like, if some young light-hitting prospect were to ask Frank Thomas for help, I feel as though there's a decent chance the only advice Frank Thomas would have would be something like "develop better hand-eye coordination," or "gain 50 pounds of fast-twitch muscle."
Barfield says that Leyland's win-first philosophy is wrong, and chemistry is very important.
Then he says that the Tigers need to start winning, to create better chemistry.
It's been a while since my critical reading classes; am I getting this right?
Heh. "You know that hanging slider you just got under and hit to the warning track last night? Next time put it 15 rows deep in left-center. Class dismissed."
I do think veteran players have a lot to add to a team off the field--everyone raves about Greg Maddux's tutoring of younger teammates--but it's hard to justify keeping a poorly-performing player around just for that. There are coaching jobs for those guys. And, really, isn't the wise old veteran position exactly what the Jays offered Thomas? He wanted a chance to play full time and turned them down. It's not the Jays' fault if the teacher don't wanna teach. Like Yogi said, "If people don't want to come to the ballpark, how are you gonna stop them?"
Wow. I dis Leyland a lot, but to say that he doesn't know about managing after having managed hundreds of different guys for thousands of games...well, just wow.
Jim Leyland seems like the kind of guy who'd grab the bull by the balls, to say nothing of the horns. Methinks a shortage of redassedness in the clubhouse is not what ails the Tigers.
Possibly. I don't recall Oliver's particular case, but Don Baylor is a good comp for exactly the type of thing Barfield was talking about and your "itinerant"-type guy.
It's part of the reason I'm surprised that Wayne Gretzky hasn't quit as a hockey coach yet.
Wayne: "When you go behind the net, immediately track every single player on the ice and determine their path for the next 10 seconds. At the same time, figure out which way the goaltender is leaning, using miniscule skate movements and shoulder twitches. Use all this information to immediately thread a pass through 2 opposing players to your teammates stick, where he'll have nothing but open net at which to shoot."
Player: "Whuh?"
Wayne: "Oh, to hell with this."
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