Higginson in survival mode
Veteran faces prospect of being fifth outfielder
LAKELAND, Fla. -- Of all the words used to describe Bobby Higginson over the
years, "delusional" has not been one of them.
The more open Higginson became with the media as he emerged as a veteran with
the Tigers, the more he gained the reputation for brutal honesty. He isn't
about to change that tone when talking about himself, no matter how bleak his
situation might look. That's why upon arrival at one of the most important
camps of his career, he could joke that he's running out of lifelines.
The man who's had a corner locker in the Spring Training clubhouse for years
now could be at an intersection.
"You can see the writing on the wall," he said. "You've got to deal with it.
You can't complain about it, because that's not going to do anybody any good.
You go out and try to play the best you can. I feel like I'm in real good
shape. I feel like I've worked hard this offseason. Just go out and do the
best I can do."
Problem is, his best now might not be enough to keep him a Tiger, let alone
keep his starting job.
Pitchers and catchers officially reported Thursday, but Higginson has been
around for much of the winter. The longtime Detroit resident rid himself of
the Michigan winter by buying a second home in Lakeland last year. The bonus
was that it gave him a chance to work on his game at the club's spring
complex.
Even before the Tigers added Magglio Ordonez, he knew he had his work cut out
for him. A series of subpar seasons had disappointed not only the team, but
himself. To compensate for a series of injuries a couple years ago, notably a
bad hamstring, he made changes to his swing that he couldn't correct. Each
time he thought he had it fixed, he found he had more to do.
In past years, his status as Detroit's reigning veteran and his lucrative
five-year contract were reasons for patience. But as last season closed,
Craig Monroe's second consecutive solid second half left him poised to take
playing time in right field. Manager Alan Trammell admitted last month that
Monroe would see an increase.
Then came the Ordonez signing.
Now, instead of looking at a platoon situation, Higginson is staring at the
stark possibility of finishing out his contract as a fifth outfielder -- that
is, if the Tigers want to keep him.
Higginson could've reacted with anger, but that wouldn't be realistic. His
meeting with Trammell on Thursday was their first talk since the signing, and
he couldn't blame him for anything.
"I told Tram I'm not worried about it," Higginson said. "We've been so bad
around here for so long. Now we're finally starting to accumulate players a
little bit. We'll be able to make trades and get guys that might start
turning it around. Whatever part of it I can be, I'd like to be a part of it.
"Don't get me wrong. I'm not going to be happy sitting on the bench watching
162 games."
His goal now is partly survival. He'll try his best to make the Tigers want
him, in terms of ability as much as attitude. Given the choice, he'd rather
stay in Detroit to finally see a winning team, even as a spare outfielder,
than to start on a losing team somewhere else.
If he can't do that, he hopes his best is enough to move on with another
team. He's playing for a job now, and it's something he hasn't had to do
since 1995. It's a different mindset for him, but it's not necessarily a bad
one.
"It kind of makes you a little hungrier, because now you've got to prove
yourself," Higginson said. "Not only that, but there's 29 other teams that
potentially might be looking for you now. You want to do your best to open
someone else's eyes if it's not going to be here. I don't want to go home. I
want to continue playing baseball."
Physically and mentally, he insists he feels better than he has in three
years, but he also realizes how much older he's grown over that time. He
isn't naive enough to expect a return to those career numbers he posted in
2000, nor does he expect anyone else to look for that. Instead, he's looking
at a wiser, steady version.
"I don't know about 30 home runs, 100 RBIs," he said. "But I still think I
play pretty good defense. I get on base. My on-base percentage is always up
there pretty good. And I still think if I got my swing the right way as it
should be, I really think I could be real productive.
"I had six weeks last year where I was just god-awful. If you just take those
six weeks out, I don't think my season would've been as bad as it obviously
looked at the end of the season."
His situation might still have been the same, though. He isn't discounting
anything, whether it's the Tigers eating his salary of more than $8 million
and releasing him or the Tigers giving him another year of regular work. All
he wants is for the Tigers to have to decide that on his best output.
And even then, he's realistic, perhaps brutally so.
"We've got, what, six or seven weeks of Spring Training still? Injuries can
happen," he said. "I'm just going to go out and try to play the best I can
and make the decision tough on [Trammell]. It's going to come down to who
plays the best, I think, and if everybody stays healthy and everybody plays
good, obviously I'm probably the odd man out. But that's just the way it is."
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