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Redmond appreciates Gardenhire, his former skipper

MIAMI -- Marlins manager Mike Redmond will see a lot of familiar faces over the next two days.

Redmond, who played for the Twins from 2005-09, will manage against his former skipper, Ron Gardenhire, as well as several former teammates, including Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau. Despite knowing so many Twins, Redmond is not letting himself get too nostalgic.

"We played them in April in Minnesota," Redmond said. "I don't really think of it like that. It's just two teams to me."

The first-year manager has a lot of appreciation for his former skipper.

"I have a lot of respect for Gardy and what he's done," Redmond said. "Playing for him, I know he's done a great job over there. He's a great manager, and he knows what I think of him."

Redmond enjoyed playing for Gardenhire and learned things that helped him develop his current managerial style.

"I definitely learned," Redmond said. "I've learned from a lot of different managers that I played for, but I always liked the way he stuck up for his players. He was really good at that, and he let us play. He's a pretty even-keeled guy and consistent every single day."

A former catcher, Redmond joins a long list of backstops-turned-managers. But Gardenhire saw traits in Redmond's playing days that indicated his potential to manage in the big leagues.

"Catchers are always into the game," Gardenhire said. "They're always paying attention to all the little things that go on from a manager's standpoint. They're always watching the calls and watching the pitch selection. They're paying attention to hitters, because they might be behind the plate the next day, and want to know how you get hitters out.

"They see the whole field. They sit back and watch the whole field. They watch where the infielders are moving to. Catchers are always involved in all the meetings and everything. They get to know hitters. They watch what hitters do at home plate.

"He was that [type of guy]. The way he handled himself, the way the players responded to him and respected him made it real simple to know if he wanted to, that he would get into this side of it."

David Villavicencio is a contributor to MLB.com.
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