Now together with Tigers organization, Gardenhire and Prince go way back

Tigers manager Ron Gardenhire managed Mud Hens manager Tom Prince in Minnesota.

By Brian Buckey / The Blade
Thu, 23 Jan 2020 01:00:24 GMT

Upon reuniting at the Flock Winter Party in Toledo on Wednesday night, Detroit Tigers manager Ron Gardenhire knew there was only one way to greet new Mud Hens manager Tom Prince – his former player and his longtime friend.

“I knew him a long, long time ago and we've always stayed in touch just saying hello on the field and everything,” Gardenhire said. “We don't go to breakfast in the mornings or anything like that. We've always stayed in touch, though, and we always make sure that we talk to each other when we are on the same field. Now it's nice. I saw him tonight for the first time in a good while and it was a big hug right away and it was kind of cool.”

The baseball lives of Prince and Gardenhire overlapped at an interesting point of their respective careers. Prince, a longtime catcher in the big leagues, was on the last legs of his 17-year MLB career when he signed with the Minnesota Twins in 2001 under manager Tom Kelly and then played under Gardenhire in 2002 and 2003.

“I played for Tom Kelly and then Gardenhire when he took over,” Prince said. “Both of them were big on the fundamentals. They expected you to know your position and where you were supposed to be on the field and prepare for who you are playing. From that point on, [Gardenhire] let you play. He was a player's manager. He never got down your throat unless you needed it. He usually handled stuff behind closed doors. From the first day I ever played for him, he was like that even as a coach. It was simple for us. Just show up and do your job. And when you can do that, you don't have to worry about any other stuff.”

In 2002, Gardenhire took his first managerial job with the Twins. With everything being relatively new in that regard, he recalls leaning on Prince, who had a veteran presence that Gardenhire really learned from.

“He is a very intelligent baseball guy,” Gardenhire said. “He had been around a little bit once we got him, but it was fun. It was ‘game on’ with him. He was a role player and a back-up guy, but he was always a teacher, even at that time. I fed off him. I was a young manager back then and I talked to him and had a lot of really good conversations.”

Prince can still rattle off the names from that team from the dynamic speedsters like shortstop Cristian Guzman and outfielders Jacque Jones and a young Torii Hunter. Then there were the power bats at the corner positions like previous Mud Hens manager Doug Mientkiewicz and Corey Koskie as well as designated hitter David Ortiz and an up-and-coming Michael Cuddyer.

In Gardenhire's first year as skipper of the Twins, Minnesota won 94 games on the way to an American League Central title. They won the AL Division Series over Oakland before losing to the Angels in the AL Championship Series.

Those were unforgettable times for Prince who said, by that point of his career, he could hardly run and had little power to offer at the plate. But he could still make contact at the plate and call a game. He knew his role as the backup catcher on a team that was a pleasant surprise.

“I was a guy who couldn't run at that time in my career,” Prince said. “I could put the bat on the ball with not a whole lot of power or anything. So I had to do those things for him. He was aggressive. We had some guys who could run and then we had guys on the corners that could bang it. They ran a little bit and they hit...That was one of the best times in my career. We won and we played very well when no one expected us to win.”

Knowing Prince as a player, Gardenhire is not surprised that he has carved out a career in baseball as a manager.

“That's what he did,” Gardenhire said. “He studied the game. He asked a lot of questions as a player and always wanted to know, 'Why'd you do that?'. That's what managers turn into. They want to know why you do things and not just what happened there.”

Gardenhire even sees a little bit of the fire and passion in Prince that he possesses now with the Tigers.

“He's a baseball guy who's been there and done it,” Gardenhire said. “He'll hold the players accountable – he will do that. He can get fired up. He kind of has that Gardyism a little bit. He might get kicked out of a few games because he gets fired up.”

In following Gardenhire's long tenure as a big league manager, Prince isn't surprised that he is doing what he does at a high level. After spending the past few years as a bench coach for the Pittsburgh Pirates under Clint Hurdle, Prince is looking forward to seeing how Gardenhire ticks from a closer perspective.

“He's been able to adapt and his teams have played well,” Prince said. “He's a winner. He lets his players play and people respect that. I'm looking forward to seeing how he handles certain things. Being with Clint in Pittsburgh, I saw how he did some things as well as other managers I played for. I've incorporated my own style of doing things. I'm looking forward to seeing how he's evolved.”

Gardenhire foresees some of the top prospects in the Tigers system – including their prized pitchers – seeing time in Toledo this year. When they do, he knows they will be in good hands with Prince.

“Catchers see the game different,” Gardenhire said. “They are the only guys who are looking out on the field and they see all kinds of things. Tommy's going to be really, really good with the pitching and helping the pitching coach Juan [Nieves]. He'll have a great feel for what the catchers need to do in calling a ball game. He's going to help out a lot.”

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