Lamont Appreciative of Advice from Coaches and Managers

Gene Lamont is one of the most brilliant baseball minds in southwest Florida.

As a senior baseball fan, I can’t remember a time when I didn't know Lamont wasn’t in a uniform for an MLB team. So, when I saw him in Cooperstown last July at his longtime buddy Jim Leyland’s induction ceremony, so many memories came rushing back.

Lamont is a baseball lifer, the kind of pro and person I really appreciate.

Fast-forward to this fall’s postseason and the Detroit Tigers run at it, I immediately thought of Lamont and his seasons as Leyland’s top lieutenant in the “Motor City” from 2006 – 2017.

During the 12 seasons as a member of the Tigers’ coaching staff, twice (2006 and 2012) the American League pennant was won. Throw in four American League Central titles, and the Tigers were a continuous, dominant force in baseball. Witnessing two friends reaching the heights of their careers together was a beautiful baseball happening.

Recently, I called Lamont at his Sarasota County home to get his take on the rise of competitive baseball in Detroit.

“Detroit is a great sports town,” says Lamont, who, as a catcher, broke into the big leagues as a September call-up with the Tigers in 1970. “They (Tigers) signed me, drafted me, and I coached for them. Sure, I cheered for them and probably always will.”

Current Detroit skipper A. J. Hinch has earned high praise from Lamont, himself a former MLB bench boss of eight seasons (managing the Chicago White Sox 1992-1995 and Pittsburgh Pirates 1997-2000). Lamont feels Hinch has done a good job with good players in making the Tigers a more competitive team since being hired in 2021.

When looking back to coming aboard with Leyland for the 2006 season in Detroit, Lamont remembers that season as “catching people by surprise.” The Tigers lost the World Series to the St. Louis Cardinals in that Fall Classic.

“After that season, we were expected to have a real good team and contend,” recalls Lamont, who played in 87 MLB games for the Tigers over a five-season span. “Jim was there for 8 seasons. No team was going to sneak up on anyone, including ours.”

Lamont's career is most associated with the Pittsburgh Pirates, along with the Tigers organization. For seven seasons, Lamont could be seen as the club’s third base coach before getting the manager’s position.

Although selected as the 1993 American League Manager of the Year, followed by coaching for other MLB clubs, and prior to retiring from the game, working as a special assistant in the Kansas City Royals front office, Lamont’s association with the Pirates ignites many happy baseball memories.

Still a baseball fan, Lamont tells of never losing the will to have an MLB uniform on, especially when it gets to postseason time.

“When you come to spring training, you hope to be playing into October.”

Call it an occupation hazard of sorts, but there’s no taking the managing out Lamont today, even while watching games on TV.

“Every game I watch, I want to manage. I probably know a little more than the average fan. It’s easy to manage from the couch. If the fans had to sit in the dugout and make quick decisions, they might be scared.”