Former Tigers pennant winners reunite in WS
Jeff Jones was a former big league pitcher just beginning his second year as a coach when longtime Tigers general manager Bill Lajoie approached him in Spring Training.
“Do you know what makes a good pitching coach?” Jones recalls Lajoie asking him.
This could’ve been a test from the boss to see what the young coach thought about his profession. For Jones, it was an easy answer.
“Good pitchers,” Jones replied.
“Don’t ever forget that,” Lajoie said.
| Game | Date | Result | Highlights |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gm 1 | Oct. 22 | WSH 5, HOU 4 | Watch |
| Gm 2 | Oct. 23 | WSH 12, HOU 3 | Watch |
| Gm 3 | Oct. 25 | HOU 4, WSH 1 | Watch |
| Gm 4 | Oct. 26 | HOU 8, WSH 1 | Watch |
| Gm 5 | Oct. 27 | HOU 7, WSH 1 | Watch |
| Gm 6 | Oct. 29 | WSH 7, HOU 2 | Watch |
| Gm 7 | Oct. 30 | WSH 6, HOU 2 | Watch |
Shop for postseason gear: Thirty years have passed, and Jones eventually gave up the bullpen phone and the dugout for a retired life of hunting and fishing, but he never forgot. If he needs a reminder, he need only tune in to the World Series this week to watch his former pupils.
Once upon a time, Justin Verlander, Max Scherzer and Anibal Sanchez were all in the same rotation in Detroit -- and they all pitched in the 2012 World Series, during which the Tigers were swept by the Giants. Jones’ job as their pitching coach included watching those strenuous Verlander side sessions, getting the trademark hip turn back into Sanchez’s delivery, and teaching Scherzer a curveball by asking him to throw a slider slower and slower. And yes, he had to manage their varied personalities.
“It was a good rivalry, I thought,” Jones said of the dynamic between Verlander and Scherzer, former teammates turned Fall Classic foes.
Add in Rick Porcello, and Jones’ former pitchers have earned five Cy Young Awards, eight strikeout titles, two ERA crowns, two World Series titles, and over $600 million in contracts. With the Astros-Nationals matchup now set, Jones will have a former pupil play a part in three consecutive championship clubs.
He just doesn’t know which one. And he doesn’t want to pick a side.
“It's hard to say, 'I hope this team wins,'” he said. “I'll be a little nervous watching them, I'm sure. The big thing for all is I just hope they all pitch well.”
If Scherzer or Sanchez starts against Verlander in this World Series, it will be just the second time in history two starting pitchers who were teammates in one Fall Classic faced each other as opponents in another, both on new teams. The only other time this happened was in the 2005 World Series, when Jose Contreras (White Sox) and Roger Clemens (Astros) squared off in Game 1, a 5-3 Chicago victory. Two years prior they were teammates on a Yankees team that lost the World Series in six games to the Marlins.
While Jones will watch on television, his old boss -- and their old manager -- will be on hand when the series shifts to Washington next weekend. Jim Leyland will be representing Major League Baseball when he makes the drive from Pittsburgh for the middle games of the series, which could well include Sanchez and Scherzer as starters. But the Tigers special assistant will also be a proud ex-skipper.
“When I watch those guys, that's the one thing I think to myself: I've seen this movie before,” Leyland said.
One of Leyland’s biggest concerns in his 22-year managerial career was keeping his pitchers healthy. He will watch three of his old pitchers, all in their mid-30s, playing key roles. He’ll also have his old closer, 42-year-old Fernando Rodney, in the Nationals bullpen.
“All those times you guys told me I pitched these guys too much, and they're still pitching,” Leyland joked.
Though Verlander, Scherzer and Sanchez are just 17 months apart in age, they came through Detroit at different career stages. Verlander was a career-long Tiger, drafted second overall by Detroit in 2004, until his trade to Houston two years ago. He won American League Rookie of the Year honors in 2006, Leyland’s first year as a manager. The dynamic between manager and pitcher became legendary, Leyland often joking about Verlander’s stubbornness, Jones later tasked with the mound visits that Verlander rarely welcomed.
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Scherzer arrived as a gifted but mercurial young starter, traded to Detroit after the 2009 season. Jones was a bullpen coach then, but became pitching coach a couple years later. He not only watched Scherzer emerge as a second ace, he fostered it.
“There were situations before we got Max that Ver would go out and he was the guy, the horse,” Jones said, “and when you needed seven or eight innings because the bullpen was worn out, he would give it to you. And after Max was there for a year or so, he became that guy, also. And I think mentally they both became horses, so to speak. I don't think there’s any question that they helped each other by performance.”
Though Leyland downplayed the rivalry, Jones believes they pushed each other. Their personalities on the mound were similar enough that they couldn’t help it.
“They're two of the most competitive guys I ever coached,” Jones said. “The thing about Max is he wanted to make sure he was better every year. We talked in the wintertime every year and it was like, ‘This is what I want to do better next year.’ There was always something he wanted to get better at, and Justin was the exact same way. I would pretty much keep up with them the entire winter. In that regard, they were almost identical. They wanted to be the best.”
Said Leyland: “I think you’re talking about two proud guys, two very competitive guys, two guys similar in their competitiveness and their ability to concentrate and compete. I think it was more the nature of the beast, to be honest with you. It was fun to watch. It was a treat to put them out there. I'm sure Davey Martinez and AJ Hinch feel the same way. …
“I'm sure that they fed off each other some. They were all-in on trying to win and trying to win for the Tigers. That's what you wanted. Whatever sidelights they had, that's something that I didn't pay much attention [to].”
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Jones saw similar competitiveness, albeit a quieter personality, from Sanchez, acquired from the Marlins at the Trade Deadline in 2012. He had parts of seven big league seasons under his belt when he arrived, but never a playoff appearance. That changed that fall, including seven scoreless innings at Yankee Stadium to help lead the Tigers to an ALCS sweep.
“It was a little different for him with me,” Jones said, “because I didn’t know him real well and he had a lot more expectations. But once he got on a roll he was outstanding the rest of the way.”
Sanchez’s strong postseason in 2012 earned him a five-year extension from Tigers owner Mike Ilitch, keeping him in Detroit through 2017. A few months later, Detroit signed Verlander to a record extension through 2019. Though the Tigers made Scherzer an offer before his contract year in 2014, Detroit’s payroll situation made it nearly impossible to keep them all.
Sanchez led the AL in ERA in 2013, finishing fourth in Cy Young Award voting that year behind Scherzer in Leyland’s final year as manager. The Tigers lost in the ALCS to the Red Sox that year, and were swept out of the Division Series the following season.
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When Leyland attends the World Series, he’ll watch his former pitchers vie for a title they never broke through to win in Detroit. But he has long since made peace with that.
“We had our chances. We just didn't win the final prize,” Leyland said. “We had a helluva run. It was a privilege to manage those guys as well as all the other guys. I just look at it that this is another point in their career and I wish them the best. When I see those guys, it's just great memories.”
Said Jones: “There are times I think about it, but I don't think about it very often, because I'm not really one to look back. We did everything we could and it didn't happen.”
He has a better time with memories than regrets. And he remembers Lajoie being right.
“I was a very lucky pitching coach,” he said. “You rarely run into situations where you have that many great starters on one team. They were great guys. I enjoyed every minute of working with them, joking with them.”