The immortal Crash Davis once said, “Never f*** with a winning streak.” Detroit Tigers manager Jim Leyland clearly heeds that message.
The Tigers have won 12 in a row and are 13.5 games up in the AL Central. Their magic number to clinch the division is one, and Leyland isn’t doing anything that could put the streak in jeopardy.
“I will wear these underwear until we lose,” Leyland said before his team’s game against Oakland Thursday. “I can tell you that right now. And they will not be washed. And I don’t give a (expletive) who knows it.”
Leyland said his baseball socks have holes in them from being worn repeatedly. But he issued a warning to Tigers clubhouse manager Jim Schmakel.
“I told Schmakel if somebody threw them out, that would be the end,” Leyland said.
In addition to the underwear and holy socks, Leyland, a well known smoker, has been lighting up cigars each day of the streak. There was one in the ashtray in his office Thursday. Some people might find the practice gross, but you can’t mess around when your team is that hot. Wash one sock and it can all be over.
I get it, and I certainly prefer it to this nonsense. Let’s just hope he didn’t opt for the Aubrey Huff undergarment.
