Jim Leyland Wants You to Hurt

On Thursday afternoon the Detroit Tigers were about to start a four-game set with the Minnesota Twins that they were hoping would help get the team right back in the AL Central race. Well, three days later the Tigers are finishing up their series with Minnesota just trying to salvage a game.

After finally getting above .500, the Tigers have dropped three straight to Minnesota and are a game below again, 6.5 games behind the Twins for second place. What's made the last three losses even worse is the fact that they've all been one-run defeats. It's enough to make Jim Leyland's stomach hurt, and damn it, he wants yours to hurt too.

"If they don't hurt, you should go home," Leyland said after Saturday afternoon's 6-5 loss, a game in which the Tigers were able to cut a four-run deficit to one, but came up empty after that

"I hope the guys out there are hurting as much as I am, because it's supposed to hurt. If it doesn't hurt, pack your bag and go home. That's the way I look at it.

"I'm not upset at anyone in particular, but I am upset that we just lost three close games when we're trying to fight our way back into this thing. If that doesn't hurt some people in the stomach, they should go home."

I get the feeling that Jimmy isn't too happy with the attitudes he's seeing in the clubhouse after these games right now. Though he says there's no one in particular who has upset him, I wouldn't be surprised if he does have a few people in mind and is trying to send a message. Of course, it could just be that his team realizes they're playing the Twins right now, and the Twins just have a knack for annoying the hell out of teams. It's as if they don't enjoy winning as much when they do it by two or more runs.