So anyway, the Detroit Tigers will have a new third-base coach next season: 59-year-old Tom Brookens, who coached first base last season, is taking over from 65-year-old Gene Lamont. Why? Via The Detroit Free Press:
Make mine Marvel! (Gene Lamont edition)
“We touched on it a little bit on it right at the end of the season last year,” Brookens said. “Jim had come to me and asked me if I was comfortable coaching third base. And I said ‘well, no problem with that.’ I did it when I was managing in the minor leagues so I was very comfortable with that. And he said we might end up doing that because of the things going on with Geno and him really wanting to get off the field a little bit because of his movement and he has an eye problem.”
You read that correctly. Brookens said Lamont had a bit of an eye problem last season.
We’ll give you some time to comment/vent/curse/be confused.
Gee, I dunno what the big deal is. Old third-base coaches are like Daredevil. Even as their vision begins to fail them, their other senses compensate. Maybe Lamont couldn’t see the ball real well, but he could smell how hard the ball was hit -- from the smoke of the burning wood -- and he could feel through his feet the position of the outfielders, and he could sense, with his ears alone, the speed and direction of every throw. Oh, and Spidey-Sense! Don’t forget Spidey-Sense!
In all seriousness ... ah, never mind. I got nothin’.
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