Leyland's Outburst A Melody For Un-sore Ears

Thinking back on Alan Trammell's three seasons as Tigers manager, I was trying to recall a moment when he lost his cool and called out his team in public. And Lord knows there were plenty of opportunities to do so. Yet here I am, still thinking, and nothing is coming to mind. It just confirms my belief that Tram's next tirade would be his first.

Jim Leyland only needed 13 games before he'd seen enough red flags in his team's play to go on a rant. Yesterday's lackluster 10-2 loss to the Indians -- which forced the Tigers to settle for a 2-2 split in the four-game series -- was like so many other lackluster losses the team had given this city's baseball fans in the last decade or so that it probably didn't occur to us to give it a second thought. But not Jim Leyland -- and that's good, because he's the skipper of the ship.

"We played like we had our suitcases packed for Oakland, and it didn't matter if we won or lost," Leyland seethed in his office afterward. "That's gone on here before, and it's going to stop. That's not going to get it done."

What Leyland bore witness to was much of the same nonsense that's -- in his words -- "gone on here before": Impatient at-bats; the inability to exhibit a killer instinct; inadequate starting pitching the day after a win. So while Trammell before him may have gone easier on his ballclub, Leyland refused to pull punches.

Reporters said yelling -- Leyland's -- could be heard in the hallway outside the closed doors of the Tigers clubhouse, prior to the media being allowed inside. The team's 2-5 homestand basically canceled out their 5-1 opening road trip. They had a chance Monday to take three of four from the Indians -- a team that must be vanquished, along with the White Sox, in order to call yourself a contender -- yet they went down meekly in front of the Comerica Park faithful.

Magglio Ordonez is one who might soon find himself in Leyland's pooch parlor. Maggs hasn't had good swings lately, and Monday he popped up in foul territory -- on the first pitch, a big no-no. He occupies the cleanup spot in the batting order, but right now the only thing he's cleaning up is the other pitcher's mess.

A typical postgame comment from Trammell after such a loss would be something like, "It was a tough afternoon. Give the other guys credit. They were really ready to play, and I thought their pitchers did a good job on us."

Yadda, yadda, yadda.

And don't think the players didn't know that. The accountability here has been null and void for too long, and Leyland -- so wise in the game -- is very familiar with the smoke signals that get put out in such an environment, and he was quick to nip any complacency in the bud. I suspect he had yesterday's 60-second tirade in his holster ever since the club broke camp, ready to draw it at a moment's notice.

Thirteen games was all it took to use it. And his players better not think for a moment that Jimmy Leyland has but one bullet in his chamber.