Leyland named All-Star coach

Girardi, Leyland named All-Star coaches
PA SportsTicker
Published: Friday, May 16, 2008

Joe Girardi of the host New York Yankees and Jim Leyland of the Detroit Tigers on Friday were named by Boston Red Sox manager Terry Francona as American League coaches for the July 15 All-Star Game at Yankee Stadium.

Willie Randolph of the New York Mets and Bud Black of the San Diego Padres were named by manager Clint Hurdle of the Colorado Rockies as National League coaches.

Francona also invited members of hs coaching staff - Luis Alicea, John Farrell, DeMarlo Hale, Dave Magadan, Brad Mills and Gary Tuck - to handle batting practice and other field duties.

Hurdle invited Bob Apodaca, Alan Cockrell, Mike Gallego, Glenallen Hill, Rick Mathews and Jamie Quirk from the Rockies' staff.

Huh?? Does Francona feel sorry for them or something?

Umm....okay

I suppose Sheffield will be an All-Star, too?

Why Not? Sheff will be hitting 300 by the All Star Game

GO GARY!

Vote :sheff:

will any Tigers make the All-Star team?

Of Course!


This team will be in first place and kicking ass by July!

GO TIGERS GO!

laprimamirala wrote:

will any Tigers make the All-Star team?

According to the rulebooks, every team is forced to be represented in the ASG. That's the only reason Robert Fick is an all-star.

Mark Redman was an all-star for the Royals with a 5.27 ERA at the break and a 5.71 ERA overall in 2006.

yikes! okay, Let's Get Matt Joyce in there!

Yeah

05/16/2008 11:13 PM ET
Leyland to enjoy All-Star coaching
Tigers skipper helmed American League squad in 2007
By Jason Beck / MLB.com

PHOENIX -- Jim Leyland had the honor of managing the American League All-Stars last year. This time around, he's going to have more fun.

He accepted Red Sox manager Terry Francona's invitation to be a coach on his All-Star staff because of the honor, but there's an appeal to being on the staff instead of heading it up. He won't have the responsibilities that weighed him down during last year's Midsummer Classic.

"I love the fact that we won the game," Leyland said. "I enjoyed the fact that I was privileged enough to manage the best players in the world. But I didn't have a good time, I can tell you that right now. It's not a fun game to manage, in some aspects."

The invitation actually came during Spring Training, but neither Leyland nor Francona was at liberty to mention it prior to the formal announcement on Friday morning. Leyland didn't know the news was out until one of his coaches congratulated him after he arrived at Chase Field for Friday's series opener against the Diamondbacks.

By rule, the manager of each league champion receives the honor of leading the respective league's All-Stars the following summer. That manager then has the right to name his coaching staff. Usually, that will include his own coaching staff as well as two other managers from the same league, who normally serve as base coaches. Francona has the honors this year after the Red Sox won last year's World Series.

"The coaches I had last year, I told them basically, 'Do whatever you want,'" Leyland said. "You're there to help, maybe if you see something on the bench or something coming up that I wasn't aware of. I'm not going to get in the way. I'll do what he tells me. I'll maybe make some changes on the lineup card."

Leyland has taken part in four All-Star Games total. He served as a coach for the National League All-Stars in both 1991 and '94 while he managed the Pittsburgh Pirates, and was the NL manager in '98 after the Florida Marlins won the World Series the previous year.

The tough part about last year's game stemmed from all the changes.

"When you don't have the DH, that's a tough game to manage," Leyland said. "You're trying to get guys in and out. You don't want pitchers to hit. You've got to double-switch, try to get hitters in and pitchers in.

"I think the DH should be used in every All-Star Game. That really takes the pressure off the managers. It gets everybody in the game more. You can use three different guys for DH, make sure they all get an at-bat or something. You can play with things that way. When you have to do it the other way, you're working your tail off."

This year's All-Star Game -- scheduled for Tuesday, July 15 -- should at least be a short trip for Leyland and whichever Tigers join him in New York. The Tigers end the season's first half with a week-long homestand, then open out of the All-Star break with a four-game series at Baltimore.

Jason Beck is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

At least with Leyland, the TIGERS will have ONE All-Star representative.

Problem is he is a clueless All-Star!

He may also be an EX-TIGER by the All-Star game.....