McClendon named as Mariners Skipper

[covufan]

After interviewing for the Detroit job, McClendon named manager for Seattle Mariners:

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article/mlb/mariners-name-lloyd-mcclendon-next-manager?ymd=20131105&content_id=63702876&vkey=news_mlb

[bbtds]

After interviewing for the Detroit job, McClendon named manager for Seattle Mariners:

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article/mlb/mariners-name-lloyd-mcclendon-next-manager?ymd=20131105&content_id=63702876&vkey=news_mlb

This story about McClendon being a Valpo guy should be included. I'm not sure everyone who reads this board knows McClendon went to Valpo.

http://www.valpoathletics.com/baseball/news/2013-14/13110/lloyd-mcclendon-named-manager-of-seattle-mariners/

[covufan]

After interviewing for the Detroit job, McClendon named manager for Seattle Mariners:

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article/mlb/mariners-name-lloyd-mcclendon-next-manager?ymd=20131105&content_id=63702876&vkey=news_mlb

This story about McClendon being a Valpo guy should be included. I'm not sure everyone who reads this board knows McClendon went to Valpo.

http://www.valpoathletics.com/baseball/news/2013-14/13110/lloyd-mcclendon-named-manager-of-seattle-mariners/

And this one:

http://pittsburgh.pirates.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20130821&content_id=57752690&c_id=pit

[LaPorteAveApostle]

...if you don't know our most famous baseball grad, you are on the wrong board.  sorry.

[a3uge]

I know him as the guy who threw a whole base, not necessarily the coach whom formally played at Valpo....

[bbtds]

...if you don't know our most famous baseball grad, you are on the wrong board.  sorry.

Interesting then that I got a p.m. thanking me for letting them know who Lloyd McClendon was. It's been over 30 years since he went to Valpo and there are some people who don't pay much attention to pro sports but follow Valpo. I don't think it's good to assume these things.

[LaPorteAveApostle]

I don't think it's good to assume these things.

...it's called "context clues":  it's on a board entitled "Other [Valpo] Sports", not "General Sports Topics".  Even if you didn't know this, you could probably guess that based on the simple fact that no one here has ever given a previous flying whatever who was managing the Mariners.

Plus there are a couple posts a year about him here, e.g.:
http://www.valpofanzone.com/forum/index.php?topic=1516.msg35294#msg35294
or
http://www.valpofanzone.com/forum/index.php?topic=659.msg11342#msg11342

Now, Tim Holmes, you might have a point there.

[uhlan80]

Who is Lloyd McClendon?

I assume he played pro baseball but he's before my time so could someone post something on the board about his career that I don't have to link to through the web.

[LaPorteAveApostle]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lloyd_McClendon

Lloyd Glenn McClendon (born January 11, 1959) is a former professional baseball player and current manager of the Seattle Mariners. He played eight seasons in Major League Baseball, primarily as an outfielder, and was manager of the Pittsburgh Pirates from 2001 to 2005.
Contents  [hide]
1 Playing career
1.1 Amateur career
1.2 Professional career
1.2.1 New York Mets
1.2.2 Cincinnati Reds
1.2.3 Chicago Cubs
1.2.4 Pittsburgh Pirates
1.2.5 Cleveland Indians
2 Coaching and managerial career
2.1 Pittsburgh Pirates
2.2 Detroit Tigers
2.3 Seattle Mariners
2.4 History of challenging umpires
2.5 Managerial interviews
3 References
4 External links
Playing career[edit]

Amateur career[edit]
In 1971, McClendon played in the Little League World Series for the Gary team, and earned the nickname "Legendary Lloyd" by homering in five consecutive at bats.[1][2]
Professional career[edit]
New York Mets[edit]
McClendon was drafted by the New York Mets in the 8th round of the 1980 Major League Baseball Draft as a catcher. He began his professional baseball career with the Kingsport Mets of the Appalachian League. After the 1982 season, he was traded along with two other players to the Cincinnati Reds in a deal to bring Mets legend Tom Seaver back to New York.
Cincinnati Reds[edit]
1983 was the first season in which McClendon began to play significantly at positions other than catcher, playing both third and first base while with the Waterbury Reds. He continued to be used as a utility player over the next several seasons before finally breaking into the majors with the Reds in 1987.
McClendon made his major league debut on Opening Day in 1987 as a pinch hitter,[3] He spent most of the season with the Reds, aside from a brief return to the minors with the Nashville Sounds in August. He played in 45 games, mostly as a pinch hitter, but also appeared at five different positions in the field (catcher, first base, third base, and left and right field).
1988 saw McClendon playing a similar role, although his playing time increased. He again played five positions on defense while batting .219 in 72 games overall. After the season, he was traded to the Chicago Cubs for outfielder Rolando Roomes.
Chicago Cubs[edit]
McClendon saw the most playing time of his major league career with the Cubs in 1989. Playing mostly left field and first base, he batted .286 with career highs in home runs with 12 and runs batted in with 40. He also scored a career-best 47 runs and even stole 6 bases.
McClendon struggled at the plate in 1990, however, playing in 49 games for the Cubs and batting an anemic .159. Late in the season, he was traded to the Pirates for a player to be named later.
Pittsburgh Pirates[edit]
McClendon played in 4 games for the Pirates at the end of 1990, going 1-for-3 at the plate. He played for the Pirates through the end of the 1994 season, spending most of his time in the outfield. He bounced back to hit .286 in 1991, but slumped to .253 in 1992 and .221 in 1993. He was hitting .239 in 1994 when the season was interrupted by a players' strike, and after the season became a free agent.
Cleveland Indians[edit]
McClendon signed a minor league contract with the Cleveland Indians in 1995. After failing to make the team out of spring training, he was assigned to the Buffalo Bisons. He played 37 games, including his first games at third base since 1990. However, he never received a promotion to the majors, and retired after the season.
Coaching and managerial career[edit]

Pittsburgh Pirates[edit]
After retiring from playing, McClendon served as a hitting coach for the Pirates until he was appointed manager after the 2000 season. At the time of his hiring, he became the first African American manager or head coach of any of Pittsburgh's three major sports teams, preceding the Steelers hiring of Mike Tomlin by six years.[4] McClendon held the Pirates managerial position until he was fired September 6, 2005. In his five seasons as manager of the Pirates, McClendon compiled a 336–446 record.
Detroit Tigers[edit]
When Jim Leyland was hired as manager of the Detroit Tigers, he brought former player McClendon on board as bullpen coach. For the 2007 season, he was promoted to hitting coach, replacing former Pirates teammate Don Slaught . On May 28, 2010 he changed his jersey number from 12 to 19, due to Gerald Laird changing his jersey number from 8 to 12. McClendon currently wears jersey number 8.
The Tigers did not have an official bench coach until Gene Lamont was named to that position for the 2013 season, but McClendon served a part of that role as acting manager in the absence of Jim Leyland.[5][6]
A Detroit player has won the American League batting title in four of McClendon's seven seasons as the team's hitting coach.
Seattle Mariners[edit]
On November 5, 2013, McClendon was announced, by the Puget Sound Business Journal, to be the new Seattle Mariners manager.
History of challenging umpires[edit]
McClendon has a history of challenging close calls on the diamond, and stated his belief that the Pirates didn't always get fair calls from the umpires. As he put it during the 2002 season, "I'm sure it's nothing intentional on their part. I certainly would never question their integrity. But it's human nature to relax a little and take something for granted. We've lost for so long that I think it's easy for umpires to lose respect for us and take us for granted. I've got to change that. If I get thrown out of 100 games, then I get thrown out of 100 games. I'm going to keep demanding a playing field that's equal for my players. I don't think it's wrong to demand the umpires' best effort every day."[7]
On June 26, 2001, in a game against the Milwaukee Brewers, McClendon saw two questionable calls made against his Pirates by the first base umpire, Rick Reed. After Jason Kendall was called out at first base, McClendon went onto the field to argue the call. After being ejected from the game, McClendon tore up first base and walked off the field with it, later throwing it into the dugout. Rather than risk McClendon's wrath by retrieving the base, the field crew replaced the base with a new one. The Pirates rallied to win the game in the 12th inning, 7–6.[8] The next day, the players mounted the base in their clubhouse. McClendon's act of anger made the No. 4 place on ESPN.com Page 2's "Coaches gone wild" list, which jokingly called it an incident of "stealing" first.[9]
In the 2005 season, McClendon exhibited signs of a desire to end this tendency. During a series against the Washington Nationals at the end of June, when replays of the first base theft were being shown on the scoreboard, he said, "I don't like that being shown, I don't want people to identify (that) with me...To me, that's ridiculous. That's not who I am. That's something that happened and it should be over with."[10]
Managerial interviews[edit]
Following their 2010 season, the Seattle Mariners interviewed McClendon, as well as several others, for their managerial position,[11] with Seattle eventually deciding to hire Eric Wedge.[12] On October 30, 2012, McClendon was interviewed by the Miami Marlins as a candidate to succeed Ozzie Guillen, who was fired after a single season.[13] However, the Marlins hired Mike Redmond instead.[14] On Oct. 24, 2013, McClendon interviewed for the Tigers' managerial job,[15] but that job went to Brad Ausmus. On Nov. 3, 2013, McClendon was in Seattle for a second interview for the managerial job for the Seattle Mariners.[16] He ultimately was hired by the Mariners as their new manager beginning in the 2014 season.

[LaPorteAveApostle]

Well, one good thing came out of all this:  I changed his wikipedia page to reflect his Crusader days.  Now visiting will see

Amateur career[edit]
In 1971, McClendon played in the Little League World Series for the Gary team, and earned the nickname "Legendary Lloyd" by homering in five consecutive at bats. In fact, they were his only official at-bats, as in every other plate appearance the opposing coaches, understandably, had him intentionally walked.[1][2]

He played collegiate baseball at Valparaiso University, not far from his hometown of Gary. While a Crusader, he compiled a career batting average of .330, and produced 18 home runs and 73 runs batted in. Twice he received all-conference honors (1979 and 1980).[3]

[LaPorteAveApostle]

If anybody is good with wikipedia (this is my first edit in forever) you might make the Valparaiso University mention in there a hyperlink to the article on us?  I wish I knew things.

[agibson]

Somebody's since dressed it up nicely.  Hyper linking VU, and adding http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Valparaiso_University_alumni and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Valparaiso_Crusaders_baseball_players

[covufan]

Somebody's since dressed it up nicely.  Hyper linking VU, and adding http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Valparaiso_University_alumni and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Valparaiso_Crusaders_baseball_players

Jim Wacker could be added to the these lists.  I think Wacker may have been a freshman when Fuzzy was a senior.