Jim Harbaugh Takes First Base Coaching Stint Seriously

Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh – in full uniform – coached first base for the Detroit Tigers in their spring training game against the Pirates Wednesday, admitting before the game he had some butterflies. Tigers manager Brad Ausmus said he expected nothing less from the guy who warmed up for throwing out the first pitch last year like he was readying for Game Seven of the World Series.

Harbaugh arrived an hour before game time, took time to sign some autographs and shake a few hands on the way to the clubhouse. He followed former Tigers great Alan Trammell out and met with Ausmus for a photo before taking the field toward the dugout.

“He had fun getting loose, throwing and getting ready for that first pitch,” Ausmus recalled. “He was even throwing in the dugout wearing khakis, which isn’t something you don’t see very often.”

Someone approached him with the idea to have Harbaugh coach, Ausmus said, and he was all for it.

“I didn’t know they were down here,” Ausmus, admittedly not a big college football fan, said. “Once we got the info and knew their schedule, the ball started rolling … [but] if he argues and gets thrown out, I’m not paying his fines.”

Harbaugh got to send a runner a couple of runners to second on balls to the gap in the first three innings, one of his goals.

“I hope to get a chance to send a runner and be right,” he said before the game. “I don't want anybody picked off first base. That’s my main concern - have nobody get picked off and then on a personal level, don’t get hit by a line drive. I signed my waiver, so I’m good to go.

“I was a little more nervous [throwing out the first pitch]. I did a lot of warm-ups. But what a big thrill just being in a big league ballpark, being in the locker room, in the skip’s office. That’s all very, very exciting.”

There was a little more pressure with 75 of his players and staff in the stands at Pittsburgh’s McKechnie Field.

“You don’t want to screw up,” Harbaugh said with a grin. “I don’t want to screw up for Brad. I appreciate it, really … just an attitude of gratitude, to be able to do that. Most of our guys are here for the game. I appreciate Clint Hurdle and the Pirates organization for helping us out and getting us tickets. It’s going to be a great day … Clint talked to our team.”

Team morale has been “exceptionally high” on the trip, Harbaugh added, responding, “why wouldn’t you do it?” when asked what brought him out to the ballpark.

Ausmus said it was good to have him back.

“I think he’s a very charismatic, intelligent, big personality, and that plays well especially with young players,” Ausmus said. “They had a nice turnaround this year. He deserves the accolades, the credit. He’s done it at big time D-I programs, the NFL and on a smaller scale as well, at USD [San Diego]. He seems to have spanned the football spectrum.

“I don’t know if he ever coached high school or pee-wees but I’m sure he would have been good at that too.”