In a clip shared by Evan Woodbury of Mlive.com, new Detroit Tigers skipper Ron Gardenhire was keeping things loose for his team, fielding ground balls and playing Motown music.
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Gardenhire (60) was an infielder during his playing career, playing shortstop for the New York Mets from 1981 to 1985. During pitching fielding practice, dusted off the old glove and took a few grounders with the team. The Tigers head man had this to say:
“This is a game and we’re going to play it like a game,” Gardenhire said. “We’re going to have fun. I’m going to laugh at some of these guys. I don’t know if I’ll yell at anybody. I don’t know if I’ll do that in spring training too much.”
“We’re not going to be perfect in any of these drills,” Gardenhire said. “The veterans know that. The kids, when they screw something up, they’re already popping the glove, going ‘Grrrr.’ The biggest thing is to just calm down.
If there is one thing you can say about Ron Gardenhire, it’s that he is keeping the mood at spring training loose. Managing for the first time since 2014, Gardenhire admitted to having the “jitters” when he talked to his club for the first time Wednesday.
“I had the jitters when I walked in there,” he said. “I caught myself speaking really fast to the team. I said, ‘This is going to be short and sweet,’ but I knew I was really talking fast and that was part of my anxiety chomping up and ready to go. When I finished, I didn’t even remember what I stinkin’ said. I hope it was good.”
Gardenhire will also address the rest of the team when they report next week. If day one of camp is any indication of how the season is going to be, it might not be a “successful” season in the win-loss column but could be a fun one in the clubhouse.
