MSL to MLB: Tigers' Big Turnaround Gets Brian Schmack's Attention

Meadows Product Helped 2002 Team Avoid Dubious Record

NOTE: This story ran in September 2006 as the Detroit Tigers had gone from 119 losses in 2003 to a tight AL Central division race with the defending World Series champion White Sox and the Minnesota Twins. Brian Schmack shared his recollections of some of the young players who were there during his brief stint with the 2003 Tigers and how much they had improved. The Tigers made their first World Series appearance in 22 years and lost to the St. Louis Cardinals.

Brian Schmack spent his five weeks in the big leagues on the verge of history nobody with the Detroit Tigers wanted to be making three years ago.

Schmack’s pitching did help the Tigers come up a defeat short of the modern-day major-league record of 120 losses in a season by the 1962 Mets.

So one could guess what the 1991 Rolling Meadows High School graduate would have thought if someone said the Tigers would be one of baseball’s best teams and fighting for an American League Central title just three years later.

“My reaction right there,” Schmack said as he laughed of the Tigers’ turnaround. “While it’s not unheard of, it certainly didn’t seem like it was possible.

“The next year (2004) they had a whole new crew in there and brought in so many guy, you’re like, wow, I guess it’s possible to make a change there.”

Schmack, a right-handed pitcher who was signed by the White Sox as an undrafted free agent in 1996, was 1-0 with a 3.46 ERA in 11 relief appearances as the 2003 Tigers finished with a 43-119 record. Ten of Schmack’s teammates still are with the Tigers as they play the White Sox this week at U.S. Cellular Field.

PItchers Jeremy Bonderman and Mike Maroth combined to go 15-40, left Nate Robertson went 1-2 in 8 late-season starts and Wil Ledezma and Fernando Rodney had ERAs of 5.79 and 6.07, respectively, in that 2003 season.

“What it seemed like, especially with a guy like Bonderman, is he had the world at his fingertips,” Schmack said. “He’s got plus pitches, but he was a guy who was going to take his lumps in the big leagues.

“Some of the guys had fantastic arms and the off-speed stuff, if they could harness it, could be good.”

Lefty relief specialist Jamie Walker was pretty good at 4-3 with a 3.32 ERA. Craig Monroe, a minor-league teammate of Schmack’s in the Rangers organization, hit .240 with 23 homers and 70 RBI. Brandon Inge hit .203 as a starting catcher and has made a successful transition to third base. But Schmack said the biggest change is Jim Leyland taking over as manager this year from ex-Tigers star Alan Trammell.

“Trammell was a quiet guy,” Schmack said. “I don’t want to say the players ran the team but I think it’s different now. He (Leyland) has ownership of that team. That’s why I think there’s a huge difference.”

Schmack’s last big-league appearance helped the Tigers avoid history. His 3 scoreless innings allowed them to rally from a 7-1 deficit after 6 ½ innings and beat the Twins 9-8. The next day the Tigers won their season finale.

“The last week was so exciting,” Schmack said of winning 5 of the last 6 games. “I’ve told the story that we saw a reporter from The Wall Street Journal in the clubhouse and I said, ‘What the heck is The Wall Street Journal doing in there?’

“We almost played spoiler to their stories, which was really exciting.”

Now Schmack, who spent 2004 in the Tigers’ minor-league system, is watching the turnaround from afar. He was hired a month ago as an assistant coach at Valparaiso University by new head coach and former big-leaguer Tracy Woodson.

While Schmack has a soft spot for the White Sox since they gave him his shot at pro ball, he’s pulling for the Tigers to complete one of the ultimate rags-to-riches sports stories.

“I get it from some of my uncles who are Sox fans,” Schmack said with a laugh. “It’s great to see. I definitely want to see them (Tigers) do well.”