The Genius of Jim Leyland
As this season has been unwinding, I'll admit to becoming increasing impatient at times, with some of the decisions of Tiger manager, Jim Leyland, most notable, what seems like a fascination with an underachieving Neifi Perez. On the surface, it seems like a no-brainer; that Omar Infante needed and deserved, another chance at being the regular second-baseman with the Tigers - filling in for the injured Placido Polanco. He has always been regarded as having great potential. I was all onboard with Dave Dombrowski; that another player who can field second-base was needed, but I was thinking more like a Craig Counsell... someone who could offer something batting from the left side, unlike Neifi Perez - a switch-hitter in name alone, who's career stats don't establish him as a threat batting left-handed. Obviously, Counsell, a free agent after 2006. wasn't available for the right price in Dombrowski's mind, so Perez was acquired, for a player who had been exposed as not being of starter quality down the road. Fine... better than doing nothing, Dave! Forget about an incident where Neifi decided on his own, to attempt a bunt, with 2 out in the bottom of the 9th, while being down 5-3, or other mental mistakes that you wouldn't expect to see from a seasoned veteran.
When Perez was acquired on August 20th, many believed that Omar was the better player, and that he should be #1 on the depth chart at second-base in Polanco's absence, and no one could realistically argue the logic of that point, inspite of Infante never grabbing an opportunity in the past. Many of us have wondered why Jim Leyland was giving Neifi Perez a carte blanche, yellow-brick road to everyday starter status, while sporting batting stats with the Tigers, that even the pitchers' would be embarassed about; currently, .200 against right-handers, and .083 against left-handers, or .156 ovwerall. Meanwhile, Infante was batting .312 in his five games filling in for Polanco after he went down, but had committed a costly two run error, in a 3-1 loss to Texas, that extended another losing streak. Hewas back to the bench, as Neifi Perez was swiftly brought into town.
That error against the Rangers was a huge "my bad" for Omar, and the trade for Perez happened the next day. Nobody ever expected Infante to take second-base, and shine like a superstar, and he has never been consistant in past opportunites. He strikes out a lot, while Perez does not. But Perez has done next to nothing since coming to Detroit, and some of us questioned Leyland, as if he wasn't paying attention. In the meantime, Omar Infante has made the best of the limited opportunities that he's had since Polanco's visit to the DL. So why has Leyland clung to Neifi Perez, we ask? Perhaps their recent 7-14 slide has made many of us nervous, to the point of looking for the reasons inside the decisions of the Tigers manager. Do we understand what Leyland knows he has to prepare for?
Perhaps Tiger fans are getting greedy with the success of this season. We've endured some abysmal baseball over the past 12 years, but now find the Tigers being guided by the best manager to wear the English "D" since Sparky Anderson. The truth of the matter is that Jim Leyland is among the best managers of the current era; winning Manager of the Year in '90 and '92 with Pittsburgh, developing stars such as Barry Bonds, Bobby Bonilla, Tim Wakefield, and Jay Bell, to name a few, and winning a World Series, with a young Wild Card team in Florida. What we may be witnessing is sheer genius, in a plot to shake Omar Infante from "great potential" to a reliable everyday starter. Who knows why the man does what he does? Detroit still boasts the best record in baseball, and that isn't a reality without Jim Leyland at the helm! In my mind, he's a lock for his 3rd Manager of the Year! We don't have a clue what he knows, or what he's preparing this team for, to be ready to compete for a championship. Tiger fans have assumed that Mike Maroth and Placido Polanco will be back for the playoffs, but is that either certain or likely? You aren't going to get Jim Leyland's true gut feeling on that at this point, but I get the feeling, he'll enter the playoffs confident with the players on the playoff roster, and they'll be ready.
For the past 2 games, Infante has been hitting with hunger, as his season average nears .300, along with a climb in his OBP and SLG, and the fans have been solid in his corner. When has he ever had this, and how did it all come about? We've always heard that he could a very good everyday player, as we have with Inge, Monroe, Thames, and Granderson, but we've never seen enough to believe it, so could this have had an effect on a player who speaks little English, and who wants the fans to believe in him? Leyland has put the fans in Omar's corner through means that only he understands, because he gets performance out of his players, and he does it his way. It looks to me like he's starting to look consistant in stinging the ball. Is this a fluke, or is it yet another player who Jim Leyland is influencing to good things, to keep the Tigers at the top of the heap? He's done it all year with many of the Tigers, whom the fans had written off. Coincidence has to be chalked-off after failure to understand continually turns out to be beneficial to the team's rise.
Tiger fans don't want to see this dream season crumble, and after all the losing seasons, we are quite adept at launching criticism, whether warranted or not. I for one, believe in Jim Leyland, and I believe his non-chalant demeanor over winning it all this season isn't as casual as he makes it out to be; deep down, he thinks he can guide the Tigers to a World Series win, but you won't hear him say that. How many times have there been this season, where some of his decisions were being highly criticized, but then... they worked out? It's refreshing the way Infante has responded, and quite different seeing him step into the batter's box, and believe that he will be getting on base; I've never felt that way with him before. I'll eat crow on my comments regarding Leyland's decisions to keep Infante on the bench, while watching Neifi Perez struggle. Obviously, Leyland is capable of turning subtraction into multiplication; that's pure genius.
When Perez was acquired on August 20th, many believed that Omar was the better player, and that he should be #1 on the depth chart at second-base in Polanco's absence, and no one could realistically argue the logic of that point, inspite of Infante never grabbing an opportunity in the past. Many of us have wondered why Jim Leyland was giving Neifi Perez a carte blanche, yellow-brick road to everyday starter status, while sporting batting stats with the Tigers, that even the pitchers' would be embarassed about; currently, .200 against right-handers, and .083 against left-handers, or .156 ovwerall. Meanwhile, Infante was batting .312 in his five games filling in for Polanco after he went down, but had committed a costly two run error, in a 3-1 loss to Texas, that extended another losing streak. Hewas back to the bench, as Neifi Perez was swiftly brought into town.
That error against the Rangers was a huge "my bad" for Omar, and the trade for Perez happened the next day. Nobody ever expected Infante to take second-base, and shine like a superstar, and he has never been consistant in past opportunites. He strikes out a lot, while Perez does not. But Perez has done next to nothing since coming to Detroit, and some of us questioned Leyland, as if he wasn't paying attention. In the meantime, Omar Infante has made the best of the limited opportunities that he's had since Polanco's visit to the DL. So why has Leyland clung to Neifi Perez, we ask? Perhaps their recent 7-14 slide has made many of us nervous, to the point of looking for the reasons inside the decisions of the Tigers manager. Do we understand what Leyland knows he has to prepare for?
Perhaps Tiger fans are getting greedy with the success of this season. We've endured some abysmal baseball over the past 12 years, but now find the Tigers being guided by the best manager to wear the English "D" since Sparky Anderson. The truth of the matter is that Jim Leyland is among the best managers of the current era; winning Manager of the Year in '90 and '92 with Pittsburgh, developing stars such as Barry Bonds, Bobby Bonilla, Tim Wakefield, and Jay Bell, to name a few, and winning a World Series, with a young Wild Card team in Florida. What we may be witnessing is sheer genius, in a plot to shake Omar Infante from "great potential" to a reliable everyday starter. Who knows why the man does what he does? Detroit still boasts the best record in baseball, and that isn't a reality without Jim Leyland at the helm! In my mind, he's a lock for his 3rd Manager of the Year! We don't have a clue what he knows, or what he's preparing this team for, to be ready to compete for a championship. Tiger fans have assumed that Mike Maroth and Placido Polanco will be back for the playoffs, but is that either certain or likely? You aren't going to get Jim Leyland's true gut feeling on that at this point, but I get the feeling, he'll enter the playoffs confident with the players on the playoff roster, and they'll be ready.
For the past 2 games, Infante has been hitting with hunger, as his season average nears .300, along with a climb in his OBP and SLG, and the fans have been solid in his corner. When has he ever had this, and how did it all come about? We've always heard that he could a very good everyday player, as we have with Inge, Monroe, Thames, and Granderson, but we've never seen enough to believe it, so could this have had an effect on a player who speaks little English, and who wants the fans to believe in him? Leyland has put the fans in Omar's corner through means that only he understands, because he gets performance out of his players, and he does it his way. It looks to me like he's starting to look consistant in stinging the ball. Is this a fluke, or is it yet another player who Jim Leyland is influencing to good things, to keep the Tigers at the top of the heap? He's done it all year with many of the Tigers, whom the fans had written off. Coincidence has to be chalked-off after failure to understand continually turns out to be beneficial to the team's rise.
Tiger fans don't want to see this dream season crumble, and after all the losing seasons, we are quite adept at launching criticism, whether warranted or not. I for one, believe in Jim Leyland, and I believe his non-chalant demeanor over winning it all this season isn't as casual as he makes it out to be; deep down, he thinks he can guide the Tigers to a World Series win, but you won't hear him say that. How many times have there been this season, where some of his decisions were being highly criticized, but then... they worked out? It's refreshing the way Infante has responded, and quite different seeing him step into the batter's box, and believe that he will be getting on base; I've never felt that way with him before. I'll eat crow on my comments regarding Leyland's decisions to keep Infante on the bench, while watching Neifi Perez struggle. Obviously, Leyland is capable of turning subtraction into multiplication; that's pure genius.
garold
posted by garold at 12:01 PM
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