A's manager relishes time with Tigers

DETROIT -- It has been nearly 30 years since Bob Melvin broke in with the Detroit Tigers, and he couldn't believe the irony, now managing against the team he grew up with, leading the Oakland Athletics on Saturday night against the Tigers in the American League Division Series.

"I was really proud of the fact I came up in the Tiger system,'' Melvin said. "I only spent one year in college. Then, you go up in your system, which was for me, it was a Tiger system. It was almost like being at a university.

"I came up in a University of Detroit Tigers, and they had so many good players. The team was so good at the time. There were so many things you could learn as a young players ….It didn't take you long to be around Jim Leyland to realize the impact that he has around players and people.''

Who'd ever have imagined, that after playing for Leyland in the instructional league in 1981, Melvin would now be facing him for the right to advance to the American League Championship Series?

"I remembered losing three or four games in a row to start,'' Melvin said, "and he came in, had a little tirade, that got my attention very quickly. Some of the points were made that [just] because this is winter ball doesn't mean we go out there without the intensity to win. I learned a lot in a very short period of time with Jim Leyland, one of the great managers of all time.''

Melvin's favorite memory, he says, was the first game he ever played at Tiger Stadium. He'll never forget the game, and certainly not, teammate Kirk Gibson.

"I remember Kirk Gibson got hit in the mouth by a pitch when I was on second base,'' Melvin said, "he was bleeding all over the place. I stitched him up right there and stayed in the game.

"Pio DiSalvo was the trainer trying to get him out of the game, and [Gibson] refused to get out of the game. I remember him laying there bleeding, fighting to stay in the game. Usually, your first thoughts and memories revolve around yourself, but this one was more about one of the guys on the team who kind of embodies what that whole team was about.''