Why Jim Leyland might steal the show at Baseball Hall of Fame ceremony
COOPERSTOWN, N.Y. — Jim Leyland’s family and friends, well-aware of how emotional he is, aren’t quite sure how Leyland will get through his Baseball Hall of Fame speech Sunday.
Ahead of the ceremony in Cooperstown, his daughter sat him down and gave him a present.
Kellie Leyland presented her dad with a white handkerchief to wear in his suit pocket. But if he opens it during his speech, there’s a little message for him.
“There’s no crying in baseball.’’
Leyland, 79, nearly cried telling the story.
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Leyland will join Adrian Beltre, Todd Helton and Joe Mauer on stage during the Hall of Fame induction ceremony Sunday (1:30 p.m. ET, MLB Network), and may be the star of the show.
Home run champion Barry Bonds, who has never attended a Hall of Fame induction ceremony, is coming to Cooperstown to pay homage to Leyland.
Gary Sheffield, who won a World Series championship with Leyland in Florida, arrived to town Saturday to be with Leyland, while also attending his first induction ceremony.
“When you weigh all of the outstanding managers during my generation,’’ Hall of Fame manager Tony La Russa said, “I think Jim’s the best of all of us. You weren’t going to out-manage Jim.’’
Go ahead, you try to find any manager, any coach, any player, and they’ll all share their respect and admiration for the man.
Leyland was the one who chastised Bonds on the field in spring training with the Pirates, telling Bonds if he didn’t abide by Leyland's rules, he could immediately leave.
Bonds stayed.
And forever earned his respect.
“You know, the one thing I learned real quick about Jim is that he established that, 'I’m the leader here, and everything that I say and do is a reflection of me,'" Sheffield said. "And all of the coaches were a reflection of him.
“So, whenever he had a team meeting, getting on everybody, he would leave the room after cursing everyone out. And then the coaches would say, 'Stay here, he’s not done.' And then right on cue, he’d come back, he finishes, he’d leave again. We’d start to get up, and no, no, no, Jim comes back again. He’s not done. He’d do that about three times.
“Then, you see him 10 minutes later, and he’s talking to me like it never happened. That’s what made him so special.
“I just have so much respect for him. He’d get on you when he needed to get on you, but he’d also treat guys the way you’re supposed to be treated.’’
Leyland, one of only four Hall of Fame managers who never played in the major leagues, led his teams to eight postseason berths, three pennants and a World Series championship. He won 1,769 games over 22 seasons, and 44 postseason games, tied for 10th all-time.
And he was a three-time Manager of the Year winner.
Leyland got his break in 1982. La Russa, then the new Chicago White Sox manager who had managed against Leyland since 1979 in the minors, offered Leyland a job to be his third-base coach. Leyland stayed on La Russa’s coaching staff for four seasons, interviewed for several managerial jobs, including with the Houston Astros, but didn’t land one. He received a call from the Pirates in 1985 with GM Syd Thrift asking for permission to interview him for their managerial job.
“I actually thought it was one of my brothers kidding around,’’ Leyland said, “because they always got on me about being a bridesmaid and never getting the job. So when he said, 'This is Syd Thrift,' I said, 'Yeah, and I’m Casey Stengel.'"
Leyland, once he was convinced it wasn’t a prank call and that the Pirates were really serious about him managing, took his first big-league job and never looked back. After 11 seasons in Pittsburgh, Leyland joined the Florida Marlins and led them to the 1997 World Series title. He went off to Colorado in 1999, but abruptly quit after the season, completely exasperated trying to win in the mile-high altitude.
“That was very tough on him,’’ La Russa said. “That took so much out of him. I didn’t know if he’d manage again.’’
La Russa talked Leyland into joining him with the St. Louis Cardinals as a scout, which lasted until 2006 when general manager Dave Dombrowski — who was the GM of the Marlins when Leyland was there — needed another manager, this time with the Detroit Tigers. The Tigers’ postseason drought ended in Leyland’s first season and the team won the American League pennant. Leyland led the Tigers to three more playoff appearances and another pennant in 2012. He retired after the 2013 season.
“Jim was just the total package you are looking for in a manager,’’ Dombrowski said. “His knowledge of the game, his understanding of the communication of players and front office, and very much a people person. He understood every aspect of the game: development, winning, the growth of players, manager. He was so sincere and spoke from the heart. He was so respected, loved his guys. He had an unusual way that he could request players to play the game the right way.
“He can be rough and tough on a guy, but at the same time, they knew that he loved them.’’
And they loved him right back.
Leyland was an old-school manager, but he welcomed the new-school analytics too ... he just didn’t brag about it.
“I think that gets overstressed sometimes, to be honest with you,’’ Leyland said. “Most people call it analytics. I call it information. When I managed, we had all the information that was available. There's more of it today.
“Some of it's very good. And some of it's probably reading material, to be honest with you.
“You can plan for a game, but you can't script the game.’’
Really, the most difficult challenge Leyland had was playing games against La Russa, his closest friend in baseball.
They came from different backgrounds, with La Russa being a bonus baby, playing in the major leagues and becoming a lawyer. Leyland, who never went to college, also never played higher than Class AA.
“I think it actually helped me in my managerial career that I wasn’t a good player,’’ Leyland said, “because I realized how hard it was to play the game.’’
Leyland and La Russa talked two or three times a week, bouncing ideas off one another, asking each to critique their managerial decisions. They would talk about baseball sometimes until 2 a.m., whether it was the middle of a season or Christmas Day.
“Tony has meant everything to me,’’ Leyland said. “He’s even helping me now with my Hall of Fame speech.’’
Leyland practiced his speech in front of La Russa, who gave him pointers, told him what to cut out, what to add, and even gave notes on his delivery.
“Wait until you hear it,” La Russa said. “It’s brilliant. You’re going to love his speech”
And, you know what, there could be some tears rolling down those cheeks, too. But Leyland isn’t about to apologize.
He’s been emotional his whole life, and now with the entire baseball world celebrating his success, he’d be shocked if he doesn’t shed tears.
“I will tell you this,’’ Leyland said. “I watched most of the speeches that have been given here. And I'm not the only guy that is going to shed a tear in Cooperstown, I can tell you that. I saw some pretty big-time players get a little emotional.
“(Hall of Fame third baseman) George Brett gave me great advice. He said, 'Hey, if you don't get emotional over something like this, you're probably not human.'
“I don't want to embarrass myself, but I'm not going to be ashamed.’’
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