Sunday Chat with Toledo native, former Tigers clubhouse manager Jim Schmakel

Sunday Chat is a weekly feature appearing in The Blade’s print and digital platforms each Sunday.

Detroit Tigers visiting clubhouse manager Jim Schmakel, a Central Catholic High School and University of Toledo graduate, recently had the honor of a lifetime.

Perrysburg native and Hall of Fame manager Jim Leyland asked him to unveil his No. 10 on the right-field wall during the Tigers' jersey retirement ceremony for Leyland at Comerica Park.

A few weeks later, Schmakel was part of the festivities honoring the 1984 World Series-winning Detroit Tigers team with many members who Schmakel still considers to be close friends.

It is a stretch like this that allows Schmakel, 73, to look back on what he calls a life full of blessings from Central Catholic, to playing, and even coaching basketball at UT, to working as a clubhouse attendant for the Mud Hens and later his long stint with the Tigers.

Spanning different eras of Tigers history, Schmakel continues to be touched by the relationships he has developed with players and coaches over the years, so much so that he is very careful when recounting the friendships not to leave anyone out.

Schmakel jokes that he was at the forefront of giving players clubhouse meals when he used the kitchen at the old Tiger Stadium to rotate cooking meals of meatloaf, chicken, and lasagna, much to the delight of the players.

He has seen that change to three catered meals a day, just a small microcosm of the evolution he has witnessed in not only his job, but baseball in general during his time with the Tigers.

He talked to The Blade this week about his recent ceremonies with Leyland and the 1984 team, and reminisced a bit about his career path.

The Blade : What did the unveiling of Jim Leyland's number mean to you?

Schmakel : I met Jim Leyland in 1966. He was a Double-A catcher for the Tigers at Montgomery. He lived in Perrysburg and I was the clubhouse kid in Toledo. He would come home at the end of their season and he would come out to the ballpark and see his friends that he hung around with in spring training. That's when I first met him and he's just been a good friend forever. I had open heart surgery last year and he was the first person to call my wife to see how I was doing. When he did the unveiling of his retired uniform he had Jeff Jones, the pitching coach, and me unveil it. It was a great honor. He sent me a nice text the day he got his number retired and thanked me for all the years I worked with him in Detroit and said I had a big part in getting him that No. 10. It was a big moment in Tigers' history and I got to be a neat part of that program.

The Blade : And you were also there when the 1984 team was honored at Comerica Park?

Schmakel : Yes, I've had a good couple of weeks. There were 20-plus guys back for it and all of us remain friends. That was 40 years ago and most of those guys call me once or twice a year to check in with me. Those are relationships that are nice because they recognize how hard I worked and the effort I put in every day.

The Blade : How have you seen the players and the personalities of the players evolve as the years have gone on?

Schmakel : I get asked that question a lot and I think a lot of people want me to say how selfish or different the players are. They are not. They are just like they were in the early 80's. They are young men just trying to play baseball, a sport that has been played for a hundred-plus years. They use the same bats. The gloves might be a little bit bigger and more expensive. But the gloves are basically the same. Games are the same. The uniforms have changed over the years. I remember Bobby Higginson used to wear his pants so baggy he looked like he was a bagman. Then when Justin Verlander played with us he used to like his uniform really tight. The style of the uniform changed from really tight tops and pants then it got baggy and now it's kind of back to tight again. The uniform sizing has changed, but the Tigers still have the same logo on their chest.

The Blade : What is the difference between being the visiting clubhouse manager vs. the home clubhouse manager?

Schmakel : When a team shows, if it’s at 3 in the morning, you have to be there to unload their stuff and get them ready for the game which is usually the next day. When I was on the home side up until my final year there, I ordered all the food. Now the visiting teams, like Colorado, I talked to their chef today and he has a catering menu that he emailed to me for what he has ordered for the three days they are in town next week. When you order food it takes a lot of time, but now I talk to the caterers and they bring in the food and we get it into the stadium.

The Blade : Is there a special baseball-related memory that stands out to you during your time with the Tigers?

Schmakel : The 1984 World Series team always stands out because it's been 40 years and it still hasn't been done again. But I always go back to when they moved from Tiger Stadium to Comerica Park. The front office had me order jerseys for a lot of the old-time players — Al Kaline, Willie Horton, Denny McLain, Mickey Lolich, Hank Aguirre, etc. They didn't tell me what happened. When [the last game at the old Tiger Stadium] ended — we won it on a grand slam by Robert Fick in the eighth inning — it was a full sellout game and they said they wanted us all out on the field in 20 minutes. We went out on the field and the place was still hopping, but we still didn't know what was going on. All of a sudden, the center field gates flew open and this guy came running out on the field all by himself and it was Mark Fidrych. The place erupted. That was 20 years after he was a big name. Everybody still recognized his gait. It was really cool and I'll never forget that.