CHARACTER COUNTS

by Holly Horning

Detroit Tigers PoBO, Scott Harris, came to the team with impeccable credentials.  He played and wrote about baseball in college, worked 2 internships with MLB teams, was employed by the Commissioner’s Office and worked for both the Cubs and Giants during some of their best years.

His mentors?  Theo Epstein and Farhan Zaidi.

It doesn’t get any better than that.

A mentor is someone you admire and align with in philosophy and the ways of doing business.  In turn, they become your teacher and advisor.

Harris spent 8 years working for Epstein, earning promotion after promotion but also learning at the feet of a master who ended up working for the greater good of baseball.  So far, he’s added new rules to the game – saving the sport by bringing old and new fans back.  Attendance is up for the first time in over a dozen years.

If MLB is like Star Wars, then Epstein is Yoda and Harris is Luke Skywalker.

So why am I writing about their relationship?

Because we can expect Harris to emulate Theo’s teachings in how he runs the Tigers.

Epstein has written a number of books and articles, some explaining how he resurrected the Cubs into finally becoming winners.

Unlike others in baseball, Theo explained that the intangibles are just as important as the tangibles.

Case in point?

Character.

He said that every player and personnel hire have to have solid character if you are going to win.  It’s not enough for pure talent to make it all happen.

Which is why before considering or signing any player to the team, they explored his character.  What makes him tick, how he treats others and how he handles tough times.  Not just on the baseball field or in the clubhouse.  But overall in life.  Because one doesn’t have 2 different sets of behaviors – one for work and the other for the personal life.  Your character is the same no matter where you are.

He explained that the Cubs talked with a player’s parents, former coaches and teams, friends and spouses.  Even ex-girlfriends which is really the acid test.

And if there were tales of not-so-great behavior, it was a red flag for the Cubs. One bad tale was enough to get Epstein to look elsewhere for the talent.

The theory about character worked for them.  Just ask any player about David Ross.  He was the instrumental cog in the team winning their first World Series in decades.  His leadership and ability to motivate was singled out.

If you compare them with the Tigers of the 2006 – 2016 decade, you may then see another reason why the Tigers, despite their immense talent, managed to muster only 1 win in 9 World Series games.

So many talented players were added but none of them were vetted for their character and leadership.  It was often said that the Tigers had no leaders in the clubhouse during that time.  That they had a lot of individuals who were focused on their own play and not on the overall team.

During that time, Dave Dombrowski had to address a lot of players’ personal issues.  There were multiple instances of marital infidelities, clubhouse and dugout fights, inappropriate dating relationships, revenge dating, jealousy, a PED conviction, sexual harassment, lawsuits, difficult and selfish personalities, alcoholism and several arrests.

It was a soap opera with actors all wearing the Olde English D.

There were so many players involved in these less-than admirable actions which prevented team cohesiveness and a focus on winning when it really mattered.

Poor character can wreck a team from the inside out.

You can bet that Harris isn’t going to allow anything like this to happen again.  And he has a really good partner in A. J. Hinch.  Both of them are in alignment with each other on what matters in a roster and the importance of intangibles.  They make a good tag team where Scott sets the standards and Harris guides the players into making the best choices.

Almost as soon as he came on board, Scott started weeding out some players.  Andrew Chafin opted out of his contract but when he couldn’t get a new one, he asked to come back.  Harris said “no.”  You can understand why.

Cody Clemens had become problematic and failed to make his baseball development a priority over his social life.  Maybe part of it was due to growing up with a famous baseball dad.  During the Avila years, the Tigers treated Roger like a VIP and allowed him to roam throughout Comerica.  Unsurprisingly, Cody was dealt over the winter after stating that he had a number of social engagements that would interfere with winter ball.

So what will happen this off season?

There are 3 players most likely to leave.  And not because of their contracts.

The Tigers are certainly sympathetic to Austin Meadows’ anxiety issues.  They are not related to character but they are directly tied to the need for Austin to be focused on himself and his needs.  At this point, he’s unable to be a team player which will end up with him being non-tendered.

It is already being reported that the Tigers are anxious to rid themselves of Spencer Turnbull who has pulled all sorts of shenanigans in order to keep the service clock going and his desire to reach free agency as soon as possible.  He refused to pitch in his first 2 starts.

And finally, the Tigers won’t be sad to see Eduardo Rodriguez opt out of his contract.  Surely sympathetic to his family crisis last year, you simply don’t completely ghost your team, not even returning a single text for almost 2 months.

There were pitchcom issues this year in which he tried to validate his reason for shutting out his battery mate from game strategy. He got a stern reprimand from A. J. Hinch and had to go before the media to keep the controversy at bay.

And finally, the trade debacle which he green-lighted every step of the way until literally the very last hour. That’s when he surprised both the Tigers and Dodgers with a last-minute demand of an extra $20 mill and the addition of 1 more contract year in order to move.

Three strikes and you’re out.

The good news is that we’re now seeing an influx of players who have noticeably high levels of character.  Hard-working players who don’t take their status for granted and are grateful for their opportunities.

Wonderful stories about players like the return of Matthew Boyd (albeit short-lived), Sawyer Gipson-Long and Kerry Carpenter.  Players who weren’t top draft picks and worked their way up from the depths of the minor leagues in order to make it to the show.

Finally, there are more players who willingly want to improve themselves as much as possible.  Willing to make big changes to their familiar routines in order to advance.

Aren’t these the guys we all want to see instead? 

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FINAL RESULTS FROM AN AUGUST TOTALLY TIGERS POLL:

How do you feel about the AL Central as it pertains to the Tigers?

• It helps them.  75%  
• It hurts them.  25%   
  

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