By Mark Wilson 2/15/2014

Hey Brad, as the old saying goes; “Be careful what you wish for because you might just get it.”

The Brad Ausmus era in Detroit Tigers’ baseball is underway down in Lakeland, Florida. Spring Training has begun at Joker Marchant Stadium.

Tick, tock. Tick, tock.

Ausmus has walked out of that old Marchant clubhouse a few times before.

He missed it in 1996 when he was traded to Detroit by San Diego in June and then missed it in ’97 when he was dealt from the Tigers to the Astros before spring training.

In 1999, he began the season as a Tiger and was a catcher on that first reporting day in mid-February. He repeated that in 2000 before being traded back to Houston.

So… when Ausmus appeared in a Tiger dark blue pullover, white baseball pants and practice hat, it had to feel like old home week.

Third time Ausmus started spring training as a Tiger.

This one as the manager.

I remember Buddy Bell’s first spring training day in 1996 when he replaced Sparky Anderson. Buddy was sitting on one of the picnic tables just off the clubhouse. It was a brilliant, warm day in central Florida and the sun was beating down on his eyes.

My Fox 2 camera was pointed at him and before I could fire off my first question to the new skipper, Bell came up with this gem.

“I half expect Ty Cobb to come walking out of that door,” referring to the old clubhouse.

“Because this place has been around since like the 1930’s? I asked back.

“Yeah, it’s almost eerie,” Bell replied. “I can feel the presence of Greenberg, Kaline, Newhouser, etc.”

With that… Al Kaline came out of the clubhouse, in uniform number 6, and waved at Buddy without missing a beat.

It was all we could do to not let Kaline think we were laughing AT him.

To be historically factual, Cobb never spent a spring training in that facility. Neither did Hal Newhouser or Hank Greenberg. Even though Lakeland has been the Tigers’ home since 1934, Joker Marchant has only been open since 1966.
Prior to Marchant, the Tigers used Henley Field in Lakeland, with the exception of three years during World War II when they trained in Evansville, Indiana.

Cobb retired in 1928 and left Detroit for Philadelphia in 1926 before there ever even WAS spring training as we know it today for MLB players.

Buddy was safe.

The ghosts of Greenberg, Newhouser, Cobb, Gehringer, Cochrane and other former Tigers prior to ’66 would NOT be haunting him.

Kaline, Willie Horton, Denny McLain, Mickey Lolich, Bill Freehan and Mickey Stanley? Well, that’s different but those guys are still alive.

Ausmus doesn’t seem like a guy who gets spooked by much.

No manager in the 114 year annals of Tigers’ baseball has ever inherited as much as he has.

Three straight AL Central titles and three consecutive trips to the ALCS is something the Tigers had not done before this run. Jim Leyland walked away on the heels of major success minus winning the coveted World Series. Leyland got there twice in his eight years as manager but came up empty both times.

When Buddy took over the team, Sparky had been threatening retirement for three years.

20 years ago in 1994, baseball was teetering on the threshold of a strike. On August 11th, MLB players made good on that promise and walked away from the game. Commissioner Bud Selig canceled the World Series that October.

In February of 1995, it was obvious the lingering strike wasn’t about to end when pitchers and catchers were going to report. MLB owners, in their infinite stupid wisdom, decided to go with replacement players to show their anger over the walkout.

Terrible idea.

Joe Klein was the Tigers’ general manager at the time and he had to appoint someone as manager when Sparky took a lone stand and said, “I will not manage these guys to protect the integrity of the game. It is something I am not willing to do.”

Owner Mike Ilitch gave Sparky a pass and allowed him to go home.

Just for trivia purposes, Klein named Tom Runnells as Tiger “skipper” while the real skipper played golf in Thousand Oaks, California.

Because he was about to lead a team of “scabs” and picket line crossers, Runnells had NO shot at getting the gig when Sparky retired.

Don’t get me wrong, Runnells is a great guy who knew exactly what he was doing and hated every minute of it. When I asked if he wanted Anderson’s job, he only laughed.

Laughed out loud. Laughed like crazy.

He knew the deal.

Today, Runnells is very much in baseball as the bench coach for Walt Weiss with the Colorado Rockies.

Spring training of ’95 was just plain weird.

Guys showed up that not many had heard of. Dave Gumpert, a former Tigers, Cubs and Royals’ pitcher, was the first one to report as a replacement player. “The Gump” had a nondescript major league career (3-2 record in 86 games) but was a Michigan native from South Haven and Aquinas College.

“I’m here to see what I have left and I don’t apologize for the situation,” Gumpert told me.

It had been eight years since he had appeared in a major league game and he was 36 years old.

He had nothing left.

Gumpert was the poster boy for replacement players. They littered the Florida and Arizona landscape like palm trees and sunshine.

Luckily for us, the REAL guys settled with the owners and we never had to see replacement baseball in all its glory.

Sparky returned, a hero, to the SECOND round of spring training in 1995 and got an amazing welcome from guys like Cecil Fielder, Travis Fryman and Kirk Gibson.

Gibby was in the final year of his career in 1995 at age 37 and glowed about his manager.

“There is no one like that man in the game,” Gibby said to me pointing at the white uniform with the number 11. “What he did walking away will not be forgotten.”

“He’s incredible,” added Fryman.

“I respect Skip so much for that,” said Fielder. “I love that man.”

Anderson and I spent an hour after that first practice back talking about his determination to not be a part of anything called, “replacement baseball.” He even joked about it.

“What is that?” Sparky said laughing. “I mean, come on; a total disrespect for the game to think about doing that. It was absolutely ridiculous. Thank God, it never happened but even going through those motions was absurd.”

The 144-game regular season was a disaster for the Tigers.

They went 60-and-84.

Sparky left, as promised, along with Gibson, Lou Whitaker and a bunch of others.

Klein was gone too as GM.

Randy Smith came in and hired Bell to be his manager even though Buddy hadn’t managed in the majors before. A stellar third baseman, Bell was seen as the “new breed” of major league field leaders.

Unlike Ausmus, Bell inherited an aging group that still included Fielder, Fryman and Alan Trammell.

Tram was hanging on for dear life.

In 1996, he was playing in his 20th season all as a Detroit shortstop. Alan really wanted Lou to come back for HIS 20th season but after a rumored trade to Atlanta, Whitaker decided not to bother.

“I’m done and no regrets,” Sweet Lou told me when he showed up at Joker Marchant one day that spring.

Whitaker had a home in Lakeland and stopped by to say hello a couple of times that spring of ’96.

He was fearful that his pal Trammell had stayed one year too long.

Lou was right.

Alan hadn’t played a full season since 1990 and injuries got the best of him. He played in just 66 games and batted .233. Even though he really liked Bell, it didn’t matter.

Buddy was doomed from the start and Detroit had one of its worst seasons EVER. They went 53-and-109.

109 losses.

It was like Smith couldn’t find anyone to pitch. Omar Olivares led the staff with seven wins.

I repeat… SEVEN WINS!

The only other pitcher with more than FIVE was Felipe Lira who won a rousing… SIX.

Current Boston Red Sox manager, who led them to the World Series victory in 2013, John Farrell made two starts for the Tigers in ’96. Naturally he lost both of them.

Despite a 26-game improvement in 1997, which earned Bell a Manager of the Year vote from the late Joe Falls, Buddy was behind the eight ball from the start.

When they went backwards in 1998, Bell clashed with Smith and was fired after going 52-and-85 and was replaced by Larry Parrish. L.P. went 13-and-12 the rest of the way which bought him a contract for 1999.

Expectations for Parrish were still low in ’99.

It was the final year of old Tiger Stadium and Ilitch was hoping for a nice sendoff. Instead, it was another disaster.

69-and-92 bought L.P. a pink slip.

Smith’s next act was Phil Garner.

Garner’s first spring training was accompanied by tumble weeds. I had never seen such sparse attendance by media members who figured there was nothing to see in Lakeland during February and March of 2000.

Phil was a gregarious fella who would spend all sorts of time regaling you with stories of Willie Stargell and that Pittsburgh Pirates “We are Family” team of 1979. Garner, known as “Scrap Iron,” was a main cog on that championship club.

He had a very serviceable 16-year playing career and was a manager in Milwaukee before Smith hired him.
Garner was only 50 years old and ready for the challenge.

Or… so he thought.

Comerica Park opened in 2000 and the Tigers struggled much of the season but finished a not-so-awful 79-and-83.

For the first time since the early 90’s, there was a glimmer of hope for good things in Detroit baseball.

Wrong.

Smith just couldn’t acquire enough pitching for Garner. The Tigers could hit, but pitching was abysmal at times.

The second year at Comerica was another unmitigated train wreck.

66-and-96 in 2001.

If it wasn’t for a new ballpark, there might have been 3,000 people at some games. As it was, attendance suffered and Ilitch was NOT happy. He spent a lot of money, and borrowed a lot too, for that downtown edifice and damn it all, his baseball team was going to be GOOD.

At least not shitty at 66-and-96!

Smith got the first hint his job was in jeopardy when Ilitch hired Dave Dombrowski to be his team “president.” Before Double-D, Ilitch had served in that capacity since he bought the club from Tom Monaghan in 1992. It was as much as message to Randy as it was about panning off the presidency to Dombrowski who had won a World Series in Miami with Leyland.

Six games into the 2002 campaign and Smith was gone.

So was Phil Garner.

Three losses at Tampa to open and then three more to Cleveland during the opening series at Comerica made it an 0-and-6 start.

On Monday, April 8th, Dombrowski relieved both Smith and Garner from their duties and stuck Luis Pujols in the manager’s seat. Felipe Alou was brought in to be bench coach for Pujols.

I hope you’re paying attention to all this, Brad Ausmus!

It got no better for Pujols.

The Tigers lost another five in a row to make it an 0-and-11 start to the ’02 season.

The losing continued and just didn’t stop. They even finished the slate by dumping 10 of their last 11. 55-and-106 was the result and each day or night at Comerica felt like a funeral. It was awful.

Pujols was fired on September 30th.
By October of 2002, Trammell was six years removed as a player and had spent 1999 in a Tigers’ uniform as a coach. He then went back to his native San Diego to coach with the Padres and that’s what he was doing when Dombrowski made the call.

It was time to see if a Sparky Anderson protégée could take the reigns.

On our radio show, both Rob and I thought it was the WRONG time for Tram.

Even Sparky was quoted as saying he was fearful that his All-Star shortstop wasn’t being put in a position to be successful and just about discouraged him from going back to Detroit.

Tram figured he could battle all the negatives and on October 9th, he was named the new skipper.

I won’t belabor the 2003 season.

119 losses speak for themselves.

If it wasn’t for a run at the end, the Tigers would have easily broken the MLB record for futility set by the expansion New York Mets in 1962 when they dropped 120.

43-and-119. Yikes.

It wasn’t that Tram didn’t have some guys who could hit because Eric Munson, Dmitri Young, Carlos Pena, Bobby Higginson and Craig Monroe all displayed true major league power. Young led the unit with 29 homers and 85 RBI.

Once again, it was all about PITCHING.

Dombrowski couldn’t find a way to get Trammell enough arms to stave off 119 losses.

Some of the numbers were insanely moribund.

Nate Cornejo, 6-and-17 with an ERA of 4.67. Mike Maroth, 9-and-21 with an ERA of 5.73. Gary Knotts, 3-and-8 with an ERA of 6.04. Adam Bernero, 1-and-12 with an ERA of 6.08. Jeremy Bonderman, 6-and-19 with an ERA of 5.56.

And… those were the GOOD pitchers!

Congratulations, Nate. You led the team in earned run average.

As a group, the relief corps totaled 27 saves; Franklyn German and Chris Mears each had FIVE to lead the way.

I had forgotten the Tigers even had a pitcher named… Chris Mears. He lasted exactly one season in the majors and might be the only man to lead a team in saves and never be seen again.
Steve Avery, a Taylor native, showed up at age 33 and was part of that mess.

Avery had been a major force for the Atlanta Braves when Smoltz, Glavine and Maddux were making their run in the early 90’s. I recall Steve hitting a big homer in high school at Taylor Kennedy to help his own pitching cause in the state tournament.

For three years, 1991-93, there was no better left handed pitcher in the National League. Avery won 47 games in that stretch.

By 2003, he had been out of the game for FOUR years with various ailments before returning to his hometown squad.

He was strictly a relief man and actually went 2-and-0.

The ERA was 5.63 in just 16 innings but hey, who’s counting?

By 2004, Avery was done again.

Even though Trammell’s ’04 season was markedly better, 72-and-90, he never received the reinforcements necessary to turn the Tigers into a winner that Mike Ilitch desperately craved.

Post-game sessions were brutal.

I would talk to Alan after games and could see it taking a toll in his psyche.

During the 2005 season, the Tigers called up their prized minor league possession.

Justin Verlander made his debut.

Snake bit is the best way to describe Tram’s “administration” because the 22-year old, first round draft pick of 2004, couldn’t pitch his way out of a paper bag.

Verlander made two starts and he was horrible.

Even worse… he was forgettable.

“We’re sending him back down because clearly he is not ready for this,” Trammell told me after JV’s second start.

In those two games, Verlander gave up nine runs on 15 hits with five walks and just seven strikeouts. His ERA was a miserable 7.15. He went 0-and-2.

I’ve had to remind people that 2006 was NOT Justin’s first appearance in the majors.

At least Maroth and Bonderman each won 14 games but 2005 saw the team win one LESS game than they had in ’04 and Dombrowski had seen enough.

On a five game losing streak to end the misery, Double-D put Trammell out of his.

Alan was fired on October 3rd.

Three years and out. 300 losses exactly.

Sparky’s worst fear had come true. Trammell would now be seen as a failed manager in many eyes rather than the great Tiger he was as a player. Anderson knew Alan was set up for a horror show and that’s what happened.

It was only accentuated in ’06 when Leyland came in, got a Rookie of the Year campaign out of Verlander and things clicked on all cylinders.

The talent got better and gelled. Pudge Rodriguez led the charge in his second season behind the plate in Detroit and magic was on display nightly at Comerica Park.

World Series… was the result.

Leyland wasn’t David Copperfield. He was simply an experienced manager who MADE a difference.

Dombrowski worked harder than ever to field a competitive team now that HIS manager was in place. The duo made it work with the Marlins and now they made it work with the Tigers.

Trammell made it back home to Southern California.
A lot of “made’s” going on there.

Now, after eight years of Leyland, the question is can Brad Ausmus MAKE IT as a manager without ANY experience save for a stint as the leader of the Israeli National Team and some time sitting next to Joe Torre in Los Angeles.

There are some who would say that Ausmus is a smart hombre with a Dartmouth education who spent two decades wearing the tools of ignorance as a catcher who basically acted like a manager ON the field.

Technically, they are correct.

It’s not brain surgery, rocket science or webmaster.

Ausmus doesn’t have to write code.

He DOES have to have the acumen to take a talented bunch of dudes to the next level. There is NO margin for error in his journey.

The cupboard isn’t bare.

You’d have to go back to Mayo Smith to find a Tigers’ manager given this many high-priced baseball pieces to begin a stint in the skipper seat.

Billy Martin and Ralph Houk had aging stars. Martin took the 1972 Tigers to the ALCS and brink of the World Series. The Oakland A’s were the only team in their way.
Sparky needed five seasons to turn the Tigers into a championship winner. Leyland seemingly did it with smoke and mirrors in 2006.

Oh, and spring training can be a funny gauge.

In ’84, the Tigers went 11-and-17 in the spring games; they looked awful that final week in Lakeland. Only the Cubs lost more (20) exhibitions than Detroit. There was really NO indication that something out of the ordinary was about to happen come opening day at Minnesota.

How funny is that?

Chicago had the most brutal spring record. Like the Tigers, the Padres also lost 17 that spring. Three of the four division champs had the MOST spring training losses. Kansas City went 14-and-10.

More proof about spring training as a non-indicator?

In 1987, when the Tigers again won the AL East, they had FLAT OUT the worst Grapefruit League record of 9-and-20. It wasn’t even close.

Ausmus gets to pilot a team fresh off THREE straight trips to the ALCS and World Series in 2012.

Nothing short of finally WINNING the World Series will be acceptable.

This is the 30th anniversary of Sparky’s 1984 juggernaut that began the season famously at 35-and-5. No one is thinking that Ausmus needs to do THAT in his first rodeo. However, if the Tigers take even a small step backwards, he will be seen as a questionable experiment.

Doug Fister, Prince Fielder, Omar Infante, Jhonny Peralta, Ramon Santiago, Joaquin Benoit and Jose Veras are all main cogs removed from the equation.

Ian Kinsler, Rajai Davis, Joe Nathan (still can’t believe he is a Tiger after all those years in Minnesota), Joba Chamberlain and Ian Krol are new to the party.

Various rankings still have the Tigers in the top three of baseball’s elite; especially with Verlander, Anibal Sanchez and Cy Young winner Max Scherzer at the head of the pitching rotation.

That’s a lot of meat in the burger; a lot of Miley in the Cyrus. Twerking… not included.

ANY manager would have been thrilled to be a part of this next era in Tigers’ baseball.

For sure, this is not like any other managerial change in Detroit history. There is almost a sense of “just don’t screw it up” when it comes to Ausmus grabbing the ring.

And… RING… is what it’s all about.

If he helps the city get its first ring in three decades, then Ausmus will be a hero. He may not get the credit he would deserve because so many people EXPECT the Tigers to win a World Series. This is not a ground floor operation.

Far from it.

So, as Ausmus spends some warm winter days in Lakeland looking over his charges, he needs to be able to deal with those lofty expectations. The roster is set with very few, if any, mysteries.

Nick Castellanos as a starting third baseman is the lone question mark in a pile of answers.

Miguel Cabrera, who says he is STONGER after his surgery, goes back to first base. Kinsler is solid at second and Jose Iglesias will wizard up shortstop.

Austin Jackson and Torii Hunter are veteran outfielders and a Davis/Andy Dirks platoon should pay dividends.

There is plenty of utility help to think that isn’t an issue.

Rick Porcello got his money avoiding arbitration and needs to have a bust out 2014. As it is, Porcello has 61 victories in his five full seasons and the kid only in December turned 25.

You know how many wins Sandy Koufax had at 25?

He had 34.

How about the great Bob Gibson?

He had 6.

Here’s a good one. How about legendary Hall of Fame lefty, Warren Spahn?

He had… ZERO.

Spahn didn’t win his first game until he had past his 25th birthday thanks to a three year hitch in World War II. Spahn went on to register 363 triumphs in a career that took him well into his 40’s. He had a 23-win season at age 42.

I’m not saying Porcello is going to be Koufax, Gibson and/or Spahn. I AM saying that he has more wins at his age than all those fellows… COMBINED.

By a lot.

Porcello is a mainstay in that rotation that adds a bulked up Drew Smyly. Nathan is a rock as the closer even at age 39. Chamberlain, Al Albuquerque, Bruce Rondon and the rest have a chance to be a very special band of brothers.

My point is, if any of those pieces parts falters, Ausmus will be the first one to take the hit.

It’s all about Brad in 2014.

The scrutiny really gets cooking next week. Grapefruit League action begins at Disney World against the Braves. There is no margin for error even in games that don’t count. It will be the most dissected exhibition schedule EVER.

Disney is a fitting place for the start to the Ausmus era.

When you wish upon a star and all that jazz is what Disney is all about. Dreams do come true… blah, blah, blah.

If Ausmus is holding up that ugly flag-filled trophy in late October, or whatever night the World Series ends, then he won’t have to worry about being careful what he wishes for.

He’ll have it. And so will the Tigers’ starving faithful for the first time since 1984.