Lloyd McClendon

Lloyd Glenn McClendon (born January 11, 1959 in Gary, Indiana) is the Hitting Coach for the Detroit Tigers, serving under Jim Leyland. McClendon is also a former Major League Baseball player and a former manager of the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Career

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.

Drafted by the New York Mets in 1980 out of Valparaiso University, McClendon broke into the majors as an outfielder with the Cincinnati Reds in 1987. His eight year major league career also included time with the Chicago Cubs and Pittsburgh Pirates.

After retiring from playing, he served as a hitting coach for the Pirates until he was appointed Manager after the 2000 season, a position he held until September 6, 2005. In his 5 seasons as manager of the Pirates, he led the team to a 336-446 record.

History of challenging umpires

McClendon has a history of challenging close calls on the diamond. He says that he believes the Pirates don'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." [1]

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, 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. The next day, the players mounted the base in their clubhouse. His son Brandon Bernard Metcalf is currently attending Mississippi VAlley STate University. McClendon's act of anger made the #4 place on ESPN.com Page 2's "Coaches gone wild" list [2].

In the 2005 season, McClendon exhibited signs of a desire to end this tendency. During the Washington series in 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."

External links

• Baseball-Reference.com - managing record and playing statistics
• Story in Pittsburgh Post-Gazette - June 26, 2001 game in which McClendon stole first base