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Alex Avila tells stories about Jim Leyland, Joe Mauer, others in 2024 Hall of Fame class
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- Alex Avila tells stories about Jim Leyland, Joe Mauer, others in 2024 Hall of Fame class
Texas Rangers third baseman Adrián Beltré , Colorado Rockies first baseman Todd Helton and Minnesota Twins catcher Joe Mauer were elected into the National Baseball Hall of Fame last week, joining manager Jim Leyland .
Leyland, who managed the Detroit Tigers from 2006-13 as part of his 22-year career, was elected into the Hall of Fame in early December by the Contemporary Era committee , whereas the three players were elected by the Baseball Writers' Association of America.
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The four newcomers will be inducted July 21, 2024, in Cooperstown, New York.
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Former Tigers catcher Alex Avila has ties to all four of the new Hall of Famers, especially Leyland as his manager for five seasons of his 13-year MLB career. He studied Helton's left-handed swing, and he competed against Mauer in the American League Central. His grandfather, legendary scout Ralph Avila , signed Beltré out of the Dominican Republic.
Avila talked to the Free Press, joining this week's episode of the "Days of Roar" podcast , about the newest members of the Hall of Fame. (On the podcast, Avila also discussed fishing with J.D. Martinez , Colt Keith's contract extension, the upcoming season for the Tigers and his baseball-related plans for 2024.)
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MORE ABOUT ALEX: Longtime catcher Alex Avila, now retired, says Tigers 'will always be my team'
Let's discuss the Baseball Hall of Fame, the class of 2024. I remember talking to you when you retired from your playing career, and here's what you told me: "I played for a future Hall of Fame manager that I'd run through a wall for. I'll forever be grateful for Jim Leyland. He's someone I love dearly." Why were you so confident Leyland would get into the Hall of Fame?
"I fully expected that to happen. I was hoping it to happen, mainly because looking at Jim's career, his baseball life, he's a part of baseball history, and that's what the Hall of Fame does. It preserves that history. I had a gut feeling, playing for Jim for five years, that eventually he would get inducted. If we were able to win a World Series on one of those teams in Detroit, it probably would have really cemented his overall career, but obviously, he was able to get one in 1997 with the Marlins . For me, it was a no-brainer. I thought he had an incredible career. From my quote, there are a lot of his former players that feel the same way. I don't know if you'll find somebody in the baseball world that will say something negative about Skip."
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What stood out about the way Jim Leyland managed? Obviously, he had something special.
"It was just the way he was able to communicate with guys and relate to guys. He played, never in the big leagues, and kind of grinded a little bit in the minor leagues. Everyone knowing Skip, he was self-deprecating, like he always talked about how bad he was as a baseball player and all this kind of stuff. Guys understood that he knew the grind, but he loved baseball so much that he wanted to coach, he wanted to manage. He went through the grind as a manager. I think that made him incredibly relatable to players. You know, just that salt of the earth understanding when he would speak to guys. He didn't take crap from anyone, really. The buck stopped with him, no matter if you were the superstar on the team or if you were, back then, the 25th guy on the team. He treated everyone in the same. And he always had that good feel, not just what was going on in the clubhouse, but a good feel in general on what was going on with his players, not only on the field but off the field. He knew when they might need a kick in the rear end or a pat on the back. His timing was impeccable for those types of things.
I, personally, owe Skip a ton as far as how my career panned out. He wanted me on the team. He brought me up in 2009 in the middle of a pennant race after I had just been drafted. I had only been catching for a year, and knowing I was still learning the position, he wanted me for my bat and knew that he'd be able to protect me a little bit behind the plate until I started to learn the nuances a little bit better, as far as catching. His confidence in me was pivotal. After I got drafted, I went to instructional league in the fall. I remember Skip, (Dave) Dombrowski and my dad (Al Avila) coming for a week to watch the instructional league games. From that point, just him seeing that improvement to be able to say, 'OK, we should bring him to big-league camp to give him that experience.' Even though I was only in big-league camp for like a week before I got sent out, that right there brought so much confidence in me. He saw something that I didn't see yet as a player. I think that helped me get to that point as a player, and then once I got to the big leagues, I realized that I belonged and could make a career out of it."
Do you have a favorite Jim Leyland memory?
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"It's definitely hard to pick one. One of the funny things that I always enjoyed about Jim, once the game was finished, whether we're on the road or at home, he understood that everyone puts so much time into each game, and then after the game, he wanted guys to enjoy their life. He understood that guys needed to do that to decompress from the rigors of playing every single day. We were in Kansas City. We would stay at the InterContinental there at the Plaza. After a game, everyone is getting back to the hotel. Back then, a piano player would play in the lobby bar. Everyone once in a while, guys would hang out there, have a drink or two and then head up to their rooms. But Jim would be down there, after a drink or two, singing Frank Sinatra with the guy at the piano. He had the entire lobby fixated on him, singing and telling jokes. He was the life of the party. That's something I think I'll always remember. It's vivid in my head. Walking in and seeing him at the end of the piano with the guy playing, singing Frank Sinatra. Skip was a good singer."
Minnesota Twins' Joe Mauer celebrates his home run with Twins' third base coach Gene Glynn against the Detroit Tigers in the first inning during a baseball game Saturday, Aug. 18, 2018, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Andy Clayton-King)
Another new Hall of Famer is Joe Mauer , receiving four more votes than he needed. Did you think Mauer, who played his entire 15-year career with the Twins from 2004-18, was going to get into the Hall of Fame on his first ballot?
"I was hoping that he was going to get in, but I wasn't sure if it was going to happen first ballot. The way voting has gone probably over the previous 20 years or so, a guy like Joe probably gets in, but maybe on the third or fourth ballot. When you look at Joe's career, those first 10 years as a catcher, he did stuff that no other catcher in the history of the game was able to accomplish. Playing against him, I thought he was a Hall of Famer. His ability to impact the game at the plate and behind the plate was second-to-none during that decade. I mean, he was a nightmare to try to get out, and then behind the plate, when you looked at those Twins teams, they won. They didn't have the postseason success that they would have liked, but they were winning teams and probably never had the best rotation year in and year out. They never had the top-end starters that some of the other teams had, but they always had a really good staff. I think a huge reason was Joe behind the plate. His preparation in his ability to game call and make adjustments throughout the game was invaluable to them. And then at the plate, that's pretty self-explanatory what he was able to do with the bat. No other catcher during that time, and then when you look at it from a historical standpoint, did what he did as a catcher."
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You made your MLB debut in 2009 with the Tigers. That's the same year Mauer won his AL MVP award, hitting .365 with 28 home runs in 138 games. He played 109 of those games at catcher. What was it like for you to get called up from Double-A and see Joe Mauer doing his thing across the way?
"I got called up from Double-A, and I had been catching for about a year or so. The position was brand new to me. I was thrown in a pennant race against the Twins, and they have Joe Mauer behind the plate. It was definitely a little bit intimidating. With the veteran guys we had, I was OK, but I remember my second game in the big leagues was against the Twins. I'll never forget actually seeing Joe behind the plate and looking down towards the first-base line and seeing Justin Morneau . If one wasn't winning the MVP, the other one was. They were larger-than-life figures for me coming up. All I was really trying to do was survive and help the team win. When I came up, especially that second game, it was vivid in my head, like man, Mauer is behind the plate and Morneau is over there. It was pretty cool."
How much do you remember about the second game of your big-league career? I took some notes. We need to give credit where credit is due.
"Well, I know I hit a home run."
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Do you know who else hit a home run in that game?
"Who did?"
It was Joe Mauer.
"There we go. You know, that doesn't surprise me. I remember the home run that I hit, but I remember nothing about calling that game or what happened in that game. I know the home run that I hit was my first home run in the big leagues, and it was off another South Florida guy who was a rookie at that time, Anthony Swarzak . We played against each other in high school. That's the only thing I remember."
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Another new Hall of Famer is Adrián Beltré on the first ballot, appearing on 95.1% of the ballots. He experienced the prime of his performance at the end of his 21-year career, from 2011-18 with the Rangers. What stood out to you about the way Beltré played the game?
"He was an absolute stud and a professional. You knew nothing was getting by him at third base. As a hitter, you're trying to figure him out. He had an incredible ability to cover the entire plate. During that stretch he had in Texas, he didn't really have a weakness. There wasn't something you could do inside or away on him to limit the damage. He was a good overall hitter during that time. Earlier in his career, you could find some swing and miss with him and get him to chase more, but as he got older, towards the end of his career, he understood himself and what he could do. He knew what he could do damage with, but at the same time, he had the ability to put the ball in play and have a two-strike approach to get his base hits, and then if you made a mistake, he'd make you pay for it. He didn't really have many holes. Those Rangers teams had great protection around him, guys like Ian Kinsler , Nelson Cruz , Josh Hamilton , Michael Young, Mike Napoli . That lineup, year in and year out, was stacked. Vladimir Guerrero was on one of those teams, as well. There was no place to breathe in that lineup. He definitely took advantage of that, but at that point, he was such a smart player with high baseball IQ. I don't know if you know, but my grandfather signed him with the Dodgers out of the Dominican Republic.
My grandfather signed two of the five Dominican Hall of Famers, Adrián and Pedro Martínez . It was pretty amazing to see Adrián get elected. I was super happy for him. He's a fantastic human being. As a competitor, playing against him, you could feel his love of the game. Even though he wanted to beat you, and you wanted to beat him, you enjoyed playing against him and enjoyed the competition. He made it fun."
I have to ask you about Todd Helton, as well. He spent his entire 17-year career with the Rockies, from 1997-2013, and enters the Hall of Fame in his sixth year on the ballot. What do you think about him getting in?
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"I thought, for sure, he should have gotten in. I think this class is a really good class, between Todd, Adrián, Joe and Skip getting in. I thought Todd deserved it. I know a lot of people talk about Coors Field, and in free agency he decided he wanted to stay in Colorado, but that's where one of the 30 major league teams play, so are you going to knock the guy for playing well there? He had the stats on the road, as well, to compile the type of career he had. I got the opportunity to play against him at the end of his career, but growing up watching him, he was an incredible left-handed hitter who became a pretty good first baseman. He was someone that I would actually watch on occasion to try to help myself and my career. Having a left-handed swing, I would watch his at-bats before games against pitchers that I was going to be facing. It's going to be a fun class. I'm hoping to go to the induction this summer."
Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him @EvanPetzold .
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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Former Detroit Tigers C Alex Avila talks Jim Leyland, 2024 HOF class
