What made Leyland a HOF manager? We asked
Jason Beck
@beckjasonThe National Baseball Hall of Fame opens its doors for Jim Leyland this weekend. His induction ceremony alongside Joe Mauer, Todd Helton and Adrián Beltré takes place on Sunday afternoon at 1:30 p.m. ET, broadcast on MLB Network. We’ll have plenty of coverage from Cooperstown all weekend, but to prepare for the big event, we surveyed current and former players for their favorite Leyland stories:
Don Kelly, Tigers IF/OF, 2007, 2009-14
“Will you bleep stuff out?”
Max Scherzer, Tigers RHP, 2010-14
“It's gonna be printed, that'll be the hard part.”
Vance Wilson, Tigers C, 2005-06
“The first time I ever heard from him, I was in a little boat in Arkansas. I was trying to figure out this little boat for my daughter and I. It was like a bad day, and all of a sudden a 313 [area code] number [rings], and he’s like, ‘This is Jim Leyland, your new manager.’ I was so [pumped], like, ‘Hey, I’m so glad. …’ And he was like, ‘Hey, enough of that. Why were you guys bad last year?’
“And I said, ‘Well, it seemed like we struggled with some type of clubhouse leadership, on-field leader. I think I’m a leader, but I’m a backup player.’
“And he said, ‘Hey, don’t worry about that. I lead. See you in spring.’ And he hung up. I just sat there in that boat.”
Mark Kotsay, Marlins OF, 1997-2000
“The best, I would say, undressing of a ball club that I've ever been a part of, or ever heard [of], came from Jim Leyland my rookie year in the old Astrodome. It was Hall of Fame.”
Justin Verlander, Tigers RHP, 2006-17
“The first time he blew up at us in '06. Paul Byrd pitched well against us. It was a good one. [Ivan] Pudge [Rodriguez] was the one [who warned us] when Jim left and was MF’ing and everybody started taking their gear off. And Pudge was like, 'Guys, just wait.' Sure enough, you start hearing him come back down [the hall]. He wasn't done yet. We definitely got the classic Jim experience.
“What happens in the locker room stays in the locker room, but it was legendary. Fiery … in the best way possible. He's a leader of men. He knows how to be your friend and also knows how to keep a boundary and make sure that you know he's the boss.”
Wilson
“In the clubhouse in ’06, we’re playing a little better but we had a tough stretch. We had a closed-door meeting, and he screamed at us that he hoped that we went out as a team tonight and all got arrested for impersonating a Major League Baseball team.
“It was funny, but it was also impactful, like you have to act like a Major League team.”
Marcus Thames, Tigers OF, 2004-09
“He was getting after us one day after a game. He was letting us have it. He'd leave the room, come back, leave the room, come back. And then at the end, he told us, 'Some of you guys need to be arrested for impersonating a Major League Baseball player!' And I freaking fell out of my chair.”
Wilson
“He’d walk down to the training room, walk back and forth. He was so red. Even the next day I was like, ‘Skip, I thought we were going to lose you.’ And he goes, ‘You? I went back into my office and [third-base coach] Gene Lamont was already sitting at my desk.’”
Kelly
“So in 2010 in Spring Training, [I] had ended the year in '09 in the big leagues, but didn't know in '10 if I was going to make the team, coming down to the end. I'm on the back field doing some extra work, bunting or something. And as I'm walking off, he's standing there talking to Gary Varsho. I grew up watching Leyland manage the Pirates, Varsho played [for him]. Knew Varsh, he was coaching for the Pirates at the time. Leyland's got his cigarette hanging out and as I walk by, he goes, 'Well, Kelly, I don't know what the [heck] I'm thinking, but you made the club.' And I just stopped in the middle like, 'All right, let's go.' Varsho's just laughing his butt off.
“No big presentation. He saved that one for 2013. Coming down to the end of spring again, I'm sitting outside talking on the phone and [then-media relations director] Brian Britten comes to get me and says Leyland wants to see me. And I'm like, 'Dude, this is weird, end of Spring Training.' Normally [pitching coach] Jeff Jones or Gene Lamont will come to get you. So I go walking in, and they had made some roster moves that morning after batting practice. All the media was in Leyland's office. And Leyland goes, 'Hitman, just wanted to know: You can add, can't you?'
“And I was like, 'Yeah, I can add.'
“And he goes, 'I figured. So by now you've figured out that you made the club?'
“And I was like, 'Well, I don't really know. I didn't want to assume. You never know what can happen.'
“And he said, 'Well, you made the club. But let me tell you something: We've got three days left in Spring Training. I'm not going to play you any of those three days, because I want you to be on the team and I don't want [Dave] Dombrowski to see you play anymore. So I'm going to hold you out these last three days.'”
Craig Counsell, Marlins IF, 1997-99
“My favorite story about Jim Leyland is when I got traded to the Marlins, and it was my first day there and I came out to take early batting practice because I was, you know, the rookie and I want to work hard and all that stuff. And I took early batting practice and then after I took early batting practice out there, he said, ‘Don't ever do that again. If I have to watch you hit every day, you will never play.’ Just think about that in your first day in the big leagues. …
“But he had this wonderful way of being really hard on you, but you always knew that he loved you. And that was what he was great at, and that was kind of an example of it. I was a little taken aback when he said that, of course. But he wasn't going to be easy on you. He was going to be tough on you. But you also knew that he loved you, and so I didn't really take batting practice anymore.”
Quintin Berry, Tigers OF, 2012
“I remember we were [at Comerica Park], and we were talking about stealing. Obviously I was hitting at the top of the lineup and I had Miggy and Prince [Fielder] behind me and Delmon [Young]. And he told me, 'Q, what you're doing, stealing second is fine. Now, if you want to steal third, it's totally up to you. But if you get thrown out, walk upstairs, pack your bag and we'll send you to Toledo.'
“I tried to do my best not to get caught. He just put the fear in me. That was him, those little jabs.”
Todd Jones, Tigers RP, 2006-08
"If we had rough days, the next day, he made a point to make sure that we knew yesterday’s over. He always would do a good job of walking around the locker room, walking around the outfield during batting practice, to get the pulse of the guys. That’s what I think drew so many people to him. I remember a particular run of tough outings for me and he would come by and say, ‘Hang in there, we’ll get ‘em today.’ I blew another one and, ‘We’ll get ‘em again today.’
So we went to Toronto, and I finally got a save and looked good, and he goes, ‘Hey, great job today. You’re off tomorrow.’ I said, ‘No, you’re off tomorrow, because you don’t have to check on me.’ He used to tell us, whatever team he had, he picked the wrong year to quit smoking. He would yell at me, ‘I’m trying to quit smoking, and now you have all this traffic out here when you’re pitching. I can’t quit smoking around you.’"
Scherzer
"The best ones are just how you operated day to day. He made it fun to come in the ballpark. I enjoyed the history of it and him. I enjoyed the players that he had gotten to manage over the years and getting his perspective. …
“As for individual stories, that's tough. Let's just say he always had a joke of the day. I'll go with that."