Detroit Tigers Manager Jim Leyland turns 68 today.  Jim Leyland has managed Major League Baseball teams for 21 seasons starting with my Pirates in 1986.

I remember when Pirate General Manager Syd Thrift hired Leyland, he was not known in Pittsburgh. Jim Who? Jim Leyland was a man who earned the opportunity to manager in the big leagues. He was a career minor leaguer as a ballplayer in the Detroit organization. A catcher who was a .222 career hitter in the minors from 1963-1970. He then turned to coaching and managing in the minor leagues for the Tigers. In 1982 he was hired by Chicago White Sox manager Tony LaRussa to be his third base coach-after 20 years he had finally made the majors.

I can recall reading an article around this time on Leyland. How he had worked his way through the minors and was a guy on the move. That he was going to be an excellent manager someday. In 1986 he got that opportunity with the lowly Pirates the worst team in baseball. You could notice the change right away the Pirates slowly got better and they started acquiring some talent. Leyland was clearly the man to lead them.

The Pirates won National League Eastern Division Championships in 1990-92. Three years in a row though they lost in the NLCS. Mainly due to the bat of Barry Bonds going silent each and every time once the post -season came.

The moment to me which defined Jim Leyland is when Bonds came spring training in 1991 with a bad attitude over his salary. Bonds was the best player in the league. There are very few cases in sports since free-agency began where the manager of a team is bigger than the best player in the game but this was the case in Pittsburgh. Leyland famously got in Bonds face that day and the video was seen all over ESPN etc. Leyland laid into him. That set the tone for the season. From everything I’ve read and heard Barry Bonds had little respect for anyone but he always respected Leyland.

The word on Leyland was he was a players manager. He  was a communicator. Maybe what he had to tell you wasn’t what you wanted to hear but he let you know where you stood. The players liked that. I can’t recall any ballplayer leaving Pittsburgh and having anything but praise for Leyland. Leyland was also pretty intense. Even when the Pirates had crummy teams he took every loss hard. They were always trying to catch him smoking a cigarette in the dugout.

The one decision that Leyland made that still haunts me is in the 9th inning Game 7 1992 NCLS. Doug Drabek after pitching 8 great innings ran out of gas. Leyland went with closer Stan Belinda. Belinda was the closer but he had always been shaky. The way that inning was going I just sensed when Belinda came in that it was over that moment. They had 2 guys in the bullpen that I would have felt better calling in- Tim Wakefield was a rookie that year and his knuckleball had been unhittable that post-season. They also had veteran starter Bob Walk in the pen that night. Leyland later explained that he went with Belinda because that is how they did it all season. I never agreed with that. In a Game 7 everyone is available. Anyway the rest is history. Sid Slides.

The Pirates 20 years later- still haven’t had another winning season. Leyland stayed in Pittsburgh 4 more seasons. He got the best out of the talent he had but it was clear the Pirates were not headed anywhere.

One of Jim Leyland’s trademarks as a manager was/is the ability to use the entire 25 man roster. Players don’t sit and rot on the bench. He keeps everyone active and fresh. I remember in Pittsburgh one of his habits was on a Sunday game resting some of his starters. This would drive fans crazy because Sunday was always a well attended game. They’d have big crowds and maybe a crowd favorurite like Andy Van Slyke was resting that day.

Jim Leyland was a Pittsburgh kind of guy. He was the most popular figure on the Pirates during his years there. When he left after 1996 for Florida a lot of people felt betrayed. I never held it against him and I think looking back no one now could blame him for leaving. He went to Florida and won a World Series his first year. After the second season the Marlins got rid of everyone and Leyland left. He went to Colorado and didn’t even finish the season there. It looked like Leyland had run out of gas. He went back to his Pittsburgh home and worked as a scout for his buddy Tony LaRussa. You could see him at every Pirate game usually sitting with another former Pirate manager Chuck Tanner who was scouting for Milwaukee.

After the 2005 season the Pirates were looking for a new manager and Jim Leyland made it clear he was interested. They didn’t even give him an interview. It worked out well for Jim Leyland though, he got hired by the Detroit Tigers. I am glad he didn’t get that Pirate job, he deserved better. I wouldn’t wish the Pirates managing job on my worst enemy. Leyland went to Detroit and has piloted the Tigers to two World Series in his seven years. They lost both times.

Jim Leyland has been an excellent big league manager over the years. Probably the second best manager in Pirates history behind Danny Murtaugh who led them to World Championships in 1960 and 1971. Jim Leyland is a baseball guy.