Gose On Those Who Blame Ausmus For Struggles: 'It's Just An Easy Out'
By Ashley Dunkak
@AshleyDunkak
DETROIT - Before the Detroit Tigers notched their fifth straight loss Tuesday, manager Brad Ausmus discussed ways he could try to put the team in position to score more runs and break out its slump. He concluded that he alone can only do so much.
"The personnel is the personnel," Ausmus said. "There's the lineup change. [Depending] on who's pitching for the other team, you can hit-and-run, you can try and create offense, but that can backfire, too; if the guy swings and misses or doesn't get the hit-and-run sign, all of a sudden there's an out at second base, so hopefully you have a situation or the right personnel where the hit-and-run's available as an option, but there's really not a ton you can do."
Outfielder Anthony Gose agreed with that assessment Wednesday.
In response to a question about what kind of dramatic measures he had seen managers take to attempt to help snap a losing streak, Gose instead put the onus on players.
"They can't play for us," Gose said. "A lot of people want to look at the coaching staff and the managers and look at that, but it's really - it's down to us. We're the only ones on the field playing. I don't think you could ever really blame a staff or anyone who's not on the field for anything that happens with the team."
Not surprisingly, Gose said he disagrees with those who believe the Tigers should part ways with Ausmus because of the team's recent skid, which includes losses in eight of the last 10 games.
"That's just a lot of people I think who don't really know what goes on," Gose said. "It's just an easy way out when really it's us on the field. He's not throwing the pitches, he's not calling the pitches, he's not swinging the bat, he's not swinging at the bad pitches or making the mistakes on defense, so I don't think you could ever really blame any member of a staff for the mishaps on the field."
Catcher James McCann, who is in his first full season in the majors, has seen managers make some desperate moves in efforts to prompt a team to bust out of a rough patch.
"They do anything and everything, just like players do - hanging the lineup card upside down, taking all the bats out of the bat rack and putting them on the ground and making guys pick up bats off the ground instead of going to the bat rack, anything that it'll get it to work - wearing a different undershirt, wearing a different pair of socks, just anything to change the mojo," McCann said. "That's kind of how baseball players are; they do anything they can to supposedly change the superstition."
That kind of activity has not happened yet with the Tigers that McCann has noticed, he said, and the catcher made it sound as though seeing those kind of measures would not be a great sign.
"We're doing our best not to hit the panic button," McCann said, "because once you hit the panic button, then that means you're in a spiral downward, and we can't get to that point."
The Tigers have a 28-25 record and are 3.5 games out of first place in the American League Central Division.
