Leyland to Verlander: Grow Up

After every game, Jim Leyland sits in his office answering questions about why the Tigers lost another game. Though the reasons are stale — and, sadly, accurate — the manager is there to absorb much of the blame for what happened. And in those 66 times he’s been able to talk about a win, he’s pointed to someone in the clubhouse as the reason: “It ain’t me; it’s them,” he’ll spin.

But as he took the arrows for the defeats, he was probably thinking, “I sure hope someone in the locker room is taking some of the heat for this [blowout, heartbreaker, bullpen implosion, offensive short-circuit, defensive collapse].”

Apparently he’d had enough of it and called out — sorta — Justin Verlander for not taking his lashings after another inexplicable performance on Monday:

“You need to have the ability every once in a while to say, ‘I stunk’ — not that the strike zone was tight,” Leyland said. “You have to say, ‘You know what? I was horse (manure).’ It’s OK, because we’re all horse (manure) from time to time. It’s good to admit that you’re horse (manure) sometimes.”

He’s right. Even if the ump is squeezing the strike zone on you, shut your mouth and take the heat. When Verlander threw his no-hitter last year, I don’t recall the Brewers moaning about balls-and-strikes. They got torched by Verlander and said as much.

In the latest episode of The Detroit Tigers Podcast, Lynn Henning suggests that Verlander will spend the offseason doing some deep reflection on what went wrong this year. If he does, not owning up to his shortcomings should be near the top of the list.