A.J. Hinch was counting down the final outs in the World Series on Tuesday night, and it wasn’t because he was rooting for the Los Angeles Dodgers.
When the game, Hinch would officially be a free agent after 10 months under a league-mandated suspension.
He didn’t have to wait long.
“About 30 minutes after the last out of the World Series, my phone range,” Hinch said.
It was Tigers general manager Al Avila.
“I said, ‘Hello.' He said, ‘A.J., this is Al, and I’d like you to get on a plane tomorrow,” Hinch remembered. “I said, ‘Absolutely. Book it, and I’ll get to Detroit as soon as possible.'”
That was Tuesday night. Hinch arrived in Detroit by early afternoon on Wednesday.
“We met for pretty much the remainder of the day and had dinner late into the night. I stayed overnight and had another round of interviews (Thursday) with an extended group of people,” Hinch said. “I had a flight to return, to go home like you normally would, and at the end of the interview, Al said, ‘I canceled your flight and we’re going to talk a little bit more.'”
They did, working out the framework of a deal on Thursday night.
“That evening resulted in an incredible partnership,” Hinch summed up.
The Tigers interviewed roughly a dozen other candidates before talking to Hinch.
Three years ago, Avila hired the final candidate he talked to: Ron Gardenhire.
He did the same in 2020, although it was more by design by accident.
“Coming into the managerial search, we already knew that A.J.'s diverse baseball acumen and passion for the game was second to none,” Avila said. “After interviewing him with all my staff we knew that he was the right person for the job.”
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October 31, 2020 at 05:37AM
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Tigers’ whirlwind courtship of A.J. Hinch: ‘I’d like you to get on a plane tomorrow’ - MLive.com
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