Jim Leyland never played in the majors but still made it to Cooperstown as a manager.
Of the four managers on the Baseball Eras Committee ballot, only one never played in the major leagues. Yet he was the one elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame Sunday – changing his life emotionally as well as financially.
Jim Leyland, who managed the 1997 Florida Marlins to their first world championship, was picked over Lou Piniella, who missed by one vote for the second time, and fellow World Series winners Davey Johnson and Cito Gaston.
Also failing to win election were former National League president Bill White, long-time executive Hank Peters, and umpires Joe West and Ed Montague.
In a media conference call that followed his election, a teary-eyed Leyland admitted he has a has a special place in his heart for the Pittsburgh Pirates.
“They gave me my first opportunity,” he said. “I was just a minor-league manager. I thought I might have chance to coach in the big leagues but didn’t think I would get a chance to manage.”
Leyland’s stepping stone to field general began when he served as third-base coach for the 1983 Chicago White Sox under Tony La Russa, who became a Hall of Famer himself in 2014.
“We won the American League West that year and had a lot of good players, including Carlton Fisk, Jerry Koosman, and Greg Luzinski,” he said.
Although the ‘97 team was the only Leyland squad that won a World Series, he later found success with the Detroit Tigers, winning the American League pennant in 2012, and Team TISI USA, taking the World Baseball Classic five years later.
