Jim Leyland Steps Down

Baseball's biggest headline yesterday was Jim Leyland stepping down as manager of the Detroit Tigers. While he said, "It's time" at Monday's press conference, he'd actually made the decision earlier. Feeling worn down, and with his 69th birthday approaching, he told GM Dave Dombrowski that this would be his final season in the Detroit dugout. Leyland had apparently told the team Saturday night after their game six elimination by the Red Sox in the ALCS.
History should judge Jim Leyland kindly -- the Tigers made the playoffs four times in his eight seasons as manager. They won two pennants, but lost to the Cardinals in 2006 and Giants in 2012. And while he never brought Detroit a title, his teams -- generously payrolled by pizza magnate owner Mike Ilyich -- have often been in the conversation about the best in the game. Add that to a World Series championship with the 1997 Marlins and his early 1990s Pirates, which won three straight division titles, and you have a resume that might be his ticket to Cooperstown.
(I shot the photo at Port St. Lucie this March before a Tigers/Mets game.)

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