Leyland’s return to Pittsburgh
PITTSBURGH (AP) – Jim Leyland doesn’t really have homecomings in Pittsburgh because he’s never left. Oh, the hat now has a ‘D’ for Detroit rather than the Pirates’ “P,’ but beneath the blue and orange is layer upon layer of black and gold. Leyland came to Pittsburgh in 1986 to manage the Pirates and, even after leaving 11 years later to manage the Marlins, and, later, the Rockies and Tigers, has never called anyplace else home. It’s more than where his house is, where he plays golf, where his kids go to school, where his friends live.
Detroit may own the time, attention and loyalty of a man who has improbably taken a team that lost 90-plus games the last five seasons into first place in the AL Central. But, no matter how long he manages in Detroit, that city will never have this.
It will never have Leyland’s heart.
“I’m a Pirate,” Leyland said Friday before the Tigers won their seventh in a row, beating the slumping Pirates 7-6. “Always will be.”
It’s easy to see why the manager and the city are so similar, so intertwined, so inseparable. The man known for his fire, drive and passion has never seen a city that has many of the same qualities itself.
“I’ve left a lot of tickets tonight for friends but, I’m serious, they might wish me good luck, but I know in the bottom of my heart they don’t mean it,” Leyland said. “They might be booing me – and I’m glad it’s that way. I live here. They really love their sports.”
Count Leyland among those fans, too. He arrived at the Super Bowl five hours before kickoff in February – in Detroit, no less – decked out in layers of Steelers black and gold like any other proud fan. He’ll attend the All-Star game in Pittsburgh in 10 days, watching not from a luxury box or suite but up in the 300-level, where his buddies sit.
That Leyland isn’t managing the Pirates now is the source of some unhappiness in a city where the Pirates are two days removed from a 13-game losing streak. When Leyland arrived Friday with a team that owns the majors’ best record, some in the stands were asking: Could that possibly have been us, not the Tigers, if the Pirates had hired Leyland and not Jim Tracy?
Leyland doesn’t dare to go there.
“I’ve got my hands full with the Detroit Tigers,” he said. “What’s going on over there is none of my business.”
However, when Leyland decided last year he had the drive to manage again after being out of the dugout for six years, he gladly would have taken the Pirates job. He watched most of their home games as a Cardinals scout and, after Lloyd McClendon was fired in early September, was available daily to talk to Pirates general manager Dave Littlefield, if the GM had so wished.
All it would have taken was one brief conversation, one quick phone call, and Leyland would have slipped on a Pirates cap again. Money wouldn’t have been an issue.
Instead, Leyland heard only silence.
When Littlefield finally got around to calling, the day after the season ended, Leyland already was driving to Detroit to interview for and, within hours, to accept the Tigers’ job.
Hiring Leyland in late 1985 proved one of the greatest moves in Pirates history. Only history can judge if not rehiring him will prove to be one of their greatest blunders.
“They picked the right man,” Leyland said of Tracy, with whom he had a long talk on the field before Friday night’s game. “The general manager hired his guy. If there’s enough there, Jim will get it done.”
However, it took Leyland only a few minutes into his usual pregame news conference to reveal some of the not-to-subtle differences between the two managers.
While Tracy’s sessions often are devoted to detailed discussions about the coaching staff’s excellence – and that the players will never perform unless they follow that instruction – Leyland said this about coaches:
“I’m always careful about bragging about any staff member, because these players are the people who are executing and have done the job,” Leyland said. “If you have pretty good players, you’re a pretty good manager or coach. I’ve seen it on both sides, I’ve been pretty smart a few years, and I’ve been dumb a few years.”
Given the cheers he heard Friday night at a road game – but, in reality, one of only three home games for him all season – Leyland might seem like a pretty smart guy these days.