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Leyland Says McClendon Did Not Forget How To Be A Hitting Coach During The Winter

By: Jeff Riger

THEY say that there is no such thing as bad publicity and usually THEY are correct, however Lloyd McClendon might be quick to disagree with them. McClendon has found himself as the latest Tiger employee that fans want gone immediately as Detroit's offense continues to struggle on a nightly basis. From bad at bats, to guys not living up to previous track records to failures to make adjustments, Detroit's bats have been silent for the most part and fans want accountability now.

But what does the skipper think?

We all know that Jim Leyland and McClendon are friends that go way back and the chances of Leyland pulling the trigger on his buddy are not good. "Lloyd McClendon is an outstanding hitting coach, he's the same hitting coach that he was last year when guys were having career years" Leyland said.

Leyland then went on to make sure that everybody realized how tough the job of hitting coach really is. "Hitting coach is the worst job in the world. It's the worst job in the world for a couple reasons. Number one, hitting is the hardest thing to do in any sport, so that makes the hitting coaches job real difficult to start with. And, then second of all do you give them enough information, too much information? Players have to do it" Leyland said.

The Skipper actually had a lot to say about his hitting coach and the people that want him gone. Leyland talked for a solid 3 minutes about McClendon and himself and how right now the team is just not winning enough. "As far as the hitting coach, Lloyd McClendon all of a sudden forgets everything about hitting over the winter? That doesn't make any sense! Everybody wants to change the minute something doesn't go right, they want a change but if you had talked to people about Lloyd McClendon as a hitting coach last year, and you had a poll, they probably would have said give him a five year contract" Leyland said.

It seems pretty obvious that McClendon is safe for the time being, but should he be? Take a listen to the Leyland interview below about McClendon and then decide for yourself.

JimLeyland

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