Tigers.mlb.com

LAKELAND, Fla. -- Cameron Maybin thought he had seen the new Tigers manager somewhere before. Then he realized he had played against him in high school.
Yes, the new Tigers manager.

It was a quiet change at the helm, and it didn't last long, but a bit of offseason charity from Jim Leyland gave 20-year-old Brandan Teague a chance to lead the Tigers for a day. He took a loss in his brief career as a Major League skipper, but he sure felt like a winner.

"You can't put a price on this," Teague said, "just to be in an atmosphere like this, with these players. Everybody watches them on TV, maybe goes to a game. But first-hand, I'm shaking their hands, they're calling me skipper. It's just a great group of ballplayers. They all play the game the way it's supposed to be played."

Technically, the price was $10,000. It went up for bid at a charity dinner in January to benefit the Connecticut Sports Foundation for cancer research. Leyland was invited to take part alongside several Yankee greats and reigning National League Manager of the Year Joe Girardi. When Yankee items went up for bid, Leyland felt like he wanted to contribute something, and he had done something similar earlier in his career.

The winning bid went through Smithfield Foods to Teague, a sophomore infielder on the baseball team at Southern Union State Community College in Wadley, Ala.

"He said if we lose, it's all on me," Teague said Tuesday morning.

After dining with Leyland and Don Zimmer Monday night, Teague got the full appreciation for a manager's job, starting with a 6:30 a.m. arrival at the clubhouse and an introduction to the players later in the morning. He made out the lineup with help from Leyland, who didn't want to start Curtis Granderson after playing him all nine innings on Monday against the Yankees. He hit ground balls to the infielders during batting practice.

Teague brought out the lineup card to the umpiring crew, then sat beside Leyland beside the dugout and got into the role. He slapped players on the back coming off the field between innings. When pitchers finished their innings, Teague met them to ask how they felt.

"He asked if I was done," Maroth said. "I should've been like, 'Aw, give me one more, Skip,' just to mess around with him."

Both Teague and Leyland decided on bunting with runners on and the game tied in the ninth. It didn't bring home the winning run, but Teague at least got an extra inning to manage.

"He was on top of it," Leyland said. "He did good. He did real well. I wish we could've won it for him."

All in all, though, it was still quite an afternoon.

"I'm glad he's getting a kick out of it," Chris Shelton said, "because it's fun to have him around."