MANAGER'S DRINKING A PROBLEM?

by Dunbar Stevens

He sits in the dugout wearing a cold, steely stare.  No matter if the Tigers are leading or trailing he seems to betray little emotion.  He grits his teeth, sometimes stomps a foot or says an expletive, but his composure never seems to waver. 

He rarely speaks to his players or the media.  He disappears on off-days.  He slept with the commissioner's daughter and was caught on an open-mic calling a player a "nigger" during spring training.  Who is this mysterious new manager?

"He's icy," an anonymous Tigers player told me.  "He lives and dies with this team but he keeps it all bottled inside.  When somebody strikes out in a clutch situation he becomes totally deflated.  I've caught him in his office totally frenzied, slamming his fist onto his desk and berating himself.  This job really eats him alive."

When Major League Baseball announced a ban on its alcohol contraband policy in November, few were more enthusiastic about it than McNeil.  Now many are wondering if he's become an alcoholic.

"Whether it's on TV or I'm at the game, I see that guy always drinking something," says Tiger fan Mitch Daniels.  "He never stops.  Six, seven, eight beers all lined up.  And when the team's losing you can see him cussing.  I'm thinking to myself 'C'mon man, there's kids out here.' "

Indeed, after a careful review of the tapes, McNeil has drank during every game except one.  He was sober for a single game against the Brewers.

"There's just an intensity to the guy that spills over sometimes, no pun intended," the anonymous player told me.  "He's like Billy Martin.  He's overwrought with tension.  The guy has problems in his life, real problems, he's always got to be focused on something, always engaged.  If he's losing or feeling powerless, he drinks heavily.  You can hardly talk to the guy."

McNeil has been compared to a modern-day Khalil Greene.  He simply has no tolerance for personal weakness, hates failure, feels alienated by teammates and the community, and has no appetite for niceties.  There's always a quiet rage boiling inside.

"He'll be drinking Peppermint Schnapps for the Anaheim series, just watch," the player said.

Clearly, McNeil has some self-destructive seeds.  Can he channel these ways into Tiger wins?  So far it's a mixed bag.