Detroit Tigers: Worst Managers of All-Time

Many words can be used to describe Brad Ausmus‘ tenure as manager for the Detroit Tigers over the past two seasons. A few that come to mind: Disastrous. Putrid. Unprepared. Pathetic.

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No matter what word you choose to go with, things haven’t gone as planned for Manager Brad and the Tigers in 2015. After getting swept in 2014 by the Baltimore Orioles and severely under performing this entire season, the man who hired Manager Brad, Dave Dombrowski, already has a new job in Boston after being backdoor fired by owner Mike Ilitch a few hours after this years trade deadline.

With a new captain steering the ship in Al Avila, along with the constant managerial blunders made by Manager Brad, it’s all but certain he will be following Dombrowski out the door. Unfortunately for Manager Brad, the possibility of his former boss hiring him for round two in Boston are zero.

While nobody has done less with more talent than Manager Brad, other Tigers’ managers have put together some very terrible seasons. Whether its the fact they didnt have any players, or just werent good at their jobs, here’s the best of the worst of the 37 other former Detroit Tigers managers Manager Brad will be joining very soon.

1. Alan Trammell – Since the Major League schedule expanded to 162 games in 1961, only the 1962 New York Mets have won fewer games than Trammell’s 43-win 2003 Tigers squad. In fact, since the live-ball era began in 1920, only those Mets and the 1935 Boston Braves have had less wins in a season. Trammell’s ’03 club was actually on pace to destroy the loss record, but he rallied the troops to win 5 of the 6 games of the season in order to avoid the record books. Was it all Trammell’s fault? Not entirely. But you have to be some kind of special to lose that many games in a season.
2. Luis Pujols – Who? The Tigers interim manager once Phil Garner was canned after an 0-6 start to the 2002 season, Pujols managed the team to a whopping 55 wins as his replacement. With far superior talent compared to the 2003 team (Jeff Weaver, Robert Fick, Damion Easely all left after his only season as manager), his team only won 12 more games than basically the worst statistical team of all time. This was obviously recognized, as he was never asked to manage another ball club again, a very common theme for those put in charge of most Detroit sports teams.
3. Buddy Bell – Unlike Pujols, Bell was given plenty of opportunities after doing a terrible job in Detroit, all of which, he also did a terrible job with. He was screwed from the start here however, when Ilitch fired 1984 World Series winning manager Sparky Anderson in Dombrowski-esq fashion, due to Sparky not wanting to coach replacement players in a locked out season in 1995. In comes Bell, who somewhat began the slide of what would become a pathetic next decade of baseball in Detroit. Over the course of his two seasons as Detroit’s manager, Bell had a winning percentage of .399.

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