Detroit Tigers’ Jim Leyland earning respect from his peers – MLB Update
At nearly 68-years-old, Detroit Tigers’ Manager Jim Leyland is entering the twilight of his career. In his seven years tenure in Detroit, Tigers have twice reached the World Series. He will not be heading home to Pittsburgh instead he will stay in Detroit
for another year as his Tigers fly out to either San Francisco or St. Louis for another World Series appearance.
For seven years, Leyland was an average Minor League baseball player. It was Tony La Russa who brought Leyland to the Majors. Leyland worked as a coach for 11 years in Tigers’ Minor League system before joining the Chicago White Sox as third base coach in
1982.
"I always got a kick out of when I go home at the end of a baseball season, somebody says, 'Boy, you look bad,'" Leyland said. “And I always tell them: 'Well, show me a manager that looks like Paul Newman after 162 games, and I will show you a guy that didn't
do a very good job.'"
"There's nobody in baseball better than he is; there's other guys as good as he is," said Tony La Russa. "You have to have a whole bunch of strengths. He handles pitching. He's got a great game feel.”
After managing against each other for several years, Leyland and La Russa became good friends. Their mutual respect still exists today.
Leyland has the ability to get the best out of his players in critical situations. To accommodate Prince Fielder at first base, he moved Miguel Cabrera to third base during the past offseason. Look what Cabrera has achieved this season.
He became the first hitter to win the Triple Crown Award in almost 50 years. Leyland knows what he is doing as he plans ahead. Tigers started the season on a very low note. At the end of August, it seemed they were going out of the AL Pennant race but that
did not turn out to be the case.
Leyland and his men regrouped and staged an emphatic fight to replace the White Sox at the top of American League Central Division standings. They dismantled the New York Yankees in the American League Championships, thanks to some great moves made by Leyland.
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