COOPERSTOWN, N.Y. — Jim Leyland’s family and friends, well aware of his emotion, aren’t sure how Leyland will make it to the Baseball Hall of Fame speech on Sunday.
Before the ceremony in Cooperstown, his daughter sat him down and gave him a gift.
Kellie Leyland gave her father a white handkerchief to carry in his suit pocket. But if he opens it during his speech, there will be a little message for him.
“You don’t cry in baseball.”
Leyland, 79, nearly cried as he told the story.
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Leyland will join Adrian Beltre, Todd Helton and Joe Mauer on stage at Sunday’s Hall of Fame induction ceremony (1:30 p.m. ET, MLB Network), and could be the star of the show.
Home run champion Barry Bonds, who has never attended a Hall of Fame induction ceremony, will come to Cooperstown to pay tribute to Leyland.
Gary Sheffield, who won a World Series championship with Leyland in Florida, arrived in town Saturday to be with Leyland while attending his first induction ceremony.
“When you consider all the great managers of my generation,” Hall of Fame manager Tony La Russa said, “I think Jim is the best of us. You couldn’t have topped Jim in terms of management.”
Go ahead and try to find any manager, any coach, any player, and they will all share their respect and admiration for this man.
It was Leyland who reprimanded Bonds on the field during spring training with the Pirates, telling Bonds that if he did not follow Leyland’s rules, he could leave immediately.
The bonds remained.
And I earned his respect forever.
“You know, the one thing I learned very quickly about Jim is he established that, ‘I’m the leader here, and everything I say and do is a reflection of me,’” Sheffield said. “And all the coaches were a reflection of him.
“So every time he had a team meeting, he would go after everybody, he would leave the room after insulting everybody. And then the coaches would say, ‘Stay here, he’s not done.’ And then, right on cue, he would come back, he would finish, he would leave. We would start to get up, and no, no, no, Jim would come back. He wasn’t done. He would do that about three times.
“Then ten minutes later you see him and he’s talking to me like nothing happened. That’s what made him so special.”
“I have so much respect for him. He would attack you when he had to, but he also treated other people the way they’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 playoff appearances, three league titles and one World Series championship. He won 1,769 games in 22 seasons and 44 postseason games, which is tied for 10th all-time.
He has also been voted Manager of the Year three times.
Leyland got his chance in 1982. La Russa, then the new manager of the Chicago White Sox, who had managed against Leyland since 1979 in the minor leagues, offered Leyland a job as 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 get the job. He got a call from the Pirates in 1985, with general manager Syd Thrift asking permission to interview him for their managerial job.
“I actually thought it was one of my brothers joking,” Leyland said, “because they always picked on me for being a bridesmaid and never getting the job. So when he said, ‘That’s Syd Thrift,’ I said, ‘Yeah, and I’m Casey Stengel.'”
Leyland, once convinced that this was no joke and that the Pirates were serious about signing him, took his first major 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 moved to Colorado in 1999, but abruptly resigned after the season, completely exasperated by trying to win at a mile altitude.
“It was very hard for him,” La Russa said. “It took a lot of energy. I didn’t know if he could do it again.”
La Russa convinced Leyland to join him on the St. Louis Cardinals as a scout, which lasted until 2006, when general manager Dave Dombrowski, who was the Marlins’ GM when Leyland was there, needed another manager, this time with the Detroit Tigers. The Tigers’ playoff drought ended in Leyland’s first season, and the team won the American League title. Leyland led the Tigers to three more playoff appearances and another title in 2012. He retired after the 2013 season.
“Jim was exactly the complete package you want in a manager,” Dombrowski said. “His knowledge of the game, his understanding of communication between players and the front office, and a very outgoing person. He understood every aspect of the game: development, winning, player growth, the manager. He was so sincere and spoke from the heart. He was so respected, he loved his guys. He had an unusual way of asking players to play the game the right way.”
“He can be tough and brutal with a guy, but at the same time, they knew he loved them.”
And they loved him back.
Leyland was an old-school manager, but he also welcomed new-school analysis… he just didn’t brag about it.
“I think sometimes it’s overemphasized, to be honest with you,” Leyland said. “Most people call it analysis. I call it information. When I was a director, we had all the information available. There’s more information available now.”
“Some of these books are very good. And some of them are probably must-reads, to be honest with you.
“You can plan a game, but you can’t write it.”
In reality, the most difficult challenge Leyland faced 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 above Class AA.
“I think it helped me in my managerial career not being a good player,” Leyland said, “because I realised how difficult it was to play the game.”
Leyland and La Russa talked two or three times a week, exchanging ideas and asking each other to critique his managerial decisions. They talked baseball sometimes until 2 a.m., whether it was in the middle of the season or on Christmas Day.
“Tony has been everything to me,” Leyland said. “He’s even helping me prepare for my Hall of Fame speech now.”
Leyland rehearsed his speech in front of La Russa, who gave him advice, told him what to delete, what to add, and even gave him notes on his speech.
“Wait until you hear it,” La Russa said. “It’s brilliant. You’re going to love his speech.”
And you know what, there might be tears running down those cheeks too. But Leyland has no intention of apologizing.
He’s been emotional his whole life, and now that the entire baseball world is celebrating his success, he’d be shocked if he didn’t shed tears.
“I’ll tell you this,” Leyland said. “I’ve watched most of the speeches that have been given here. And I’m not the only one who sheds a tear in Cooperstown, I can tell you that. I’ve seen some top players get a little emotional.
“George Brett (Hall of Fame third baseman) gave me some great advice. He said, ‘Hey, if you’re not going to get emotional about something like this, you’re probably not human.’
“I don’t want to make a fool of myself, but I’m not going to be ashamed.”
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