Leyland to manage again

DETROIT — Jim Leyland was enjoying his leisurely life working as a major league scout for the St. Louis Cardinals.

The 60-year-old could've been content with his managerial career that included a World Series title, two NL Manager of the Year awards and three division championships.

But he wasn't — so Leyland accepted the challenge of trying to turn around the Detroit Tigers.

Detroit signed Leyland on Tuesday to a three-year contract to replace manager Alan Trammell, who was fired a day earlier after three seasons.

Leyland found he was regretting his last experience as a manager six years ago in Colorado more than he was reminiscing about leading the Florida Marlins and Pittsburgh Pirates.

"I did a lousy job my last year of managing," Leyland said. "I stunk because I was burned out. When I left there, I sincerely believed that I would not manage again.

"I always missed the competition, but the last couple of years — and this stuck in my craw a little bit, I did not want my managerial career to end like that."

Leyland worked with current Tigers president and general manager Dave Dombrowski during Florida's World Series championship in 1997. Dombrowski decided to fire Trammell last month and knew Leyland would be on his short list if he had enough energy for the job.

During interviews Monday night and Tuesday morning, Dombrowski saw and heard what he needed to from Leyland.

Leyland ranks sixth among active managers with 1,069 victories over his 14 seasons. He was a two-time NL Manager of the Year in Pittsburgh, where he won three division titles in the early 1990s on teams that featured Barry Bonds.

"When I talk about people like Tony La Russa and Bobby Cox, that's the type of category Jim Leyland is in," Dombrowski said.

As a three-sport prep star in Perrysburg, Ohio, Leyland grew up rooting for the Tigers in the middle of Detroit-Cleveland territory. His first 18 years in professional baseball, starting in 1964, were in the Tigers' farm system — six as a player, one as a coach and 11 as a manager.

After minor league managing stints in the Tigers organization and coaching third base with the Chicago White Sox, Leyland finally got a chance to manage in the majors in 1986, but he ran into some of the economic realties of the game.