In the past you have drawn attention to yourself by saying outlandish statements. Such as calling Magglio Ordonez a "Venezuelan piece of shit", verbally assulting your own pitchers when they refuse to or are unable to bean an opposing player, calling Jay Mariotti a ####, and trashing other former players. Well you latest transgression has hit close to home, you were quoted as saying Sparky Anderson should be remembered as the coach of the Reds, because "he lost 100 games with the Tigers", and further enraging quote that Jim Leyland is "not a good manager". Well just like your beliefs that you can hit too many home runs, bunting will get more wins, and Darin Erstad has use as a baseball player, you are...
While Sparky did win two World Series with the Reds during the 70's, those teams featured Pete Rose and 4 other Hall of Famers. Of the 15 years he was in charge of the Tigers they finished below .500 5 times. All five were in the last seven years of his career. Those years also were years that Tom Monaghan was cutting costs and shopping the teams around. Still despite the lack of talent, Sparky's Tigers only lost more than 85 games twice. For the 1984 and 1987 season alone Sparky would be a deity here. Despite your narrow view Ozzie, Sparky is a Hall of Fame manager just as much for his getting the best out of subpar Tiger teams as he is for his World Championships with the Reds.
As for the Leyland comment, where to begin. How about Manager of the Year a record three times? How about taking basically the same team and getting an extra 24 wins out of them. You added Jim Thome to your World Series Champion team and lost an additional 9 games. Ozzie you need a couple more division titles, and maybe another World Series appearance and maybe you'll be man enough to hold Mr. Leyland's Marlboro Reds.
So on this tenth anniversary of the Red Wings-Avalanche brawl that sparked back to back Stanley Cups, we ask you Ozzie, please keep at your inane actions. Your borderline insane ramblings. Your inexplicable bond to small ball. Keep provoking and keep prodding. Keep jabbing and taking cheap shots. Look where it got Claude Lemieux...
Sincerely,
Detroit Tiger Fans
P.S. Kudos to DTown Baseball and The Dugout (WXYZ not "Word up Thome"), for finding the story
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