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Thursday, November 1, 2012

Tigers retain McClendon, add Fields as minor league hitting coordinator

(The Associated Press file photo) Bruce Fields (right), the Tigers' former hitting coach (2003-05), returned to the organization Thursday as its minor league hitting coordinator. 

The Tigers retained one coach and regained one for the organization on Thursday.

Lloyd McClendon, who interviewed for the Miami Marlins managerial position, did not get the job, meaning he'll be sticking around with the Tigers.

And the organization brought back former player and hitting coach Bruce Fields, naming him minor league hitting coordinator, replacing Toby Harrah, who'd been added to the Tigers' big-league staff midseason in 2012.

Most recently the hitting coach for the Cleveland Indians, Fields — originally drafted by the Tigers in 1978 — spent 13 seasons coaching in the Tigers' system, eight of them as manager of one of the minor league squads. He was the manager of the Single-A West Michigan Whitecaps (1997-2000) and Triple-A Toledo Mud Hens (2001-02) before joining Alan Trammell's staff with the Tigers, as hitting coach (2003-05). He traded positions with bench coach Kirk Gibson partway through the 2005 season, before Trammell's staff was replaced by Jim Leyland's in 2006.

He was named the Tigers Player Development Man of the Year in 1998, after leading the Whitecaps to the Midwest League Championship, and MWL Manager of the Year in 2000. His younger son, Daniel, is an outfield prospect in the Tigers system, spending time at Class A Lakeland and Double-A Erie.

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