Legendary baseball manager Tony La Russa is tipping his baseball cap to another infamous MLB manager. La Russa is giving flowers to Jim Leyland ahead of his Pro Baseball Hall of Fame induction.
“He’s one of a kind . . . [There are] many great, great managers of our generation. I think he’s the best of them all,” La Russa said, per MLB Network.
La Russa and Leyland traded victories while both men managed several teams over the last several years. Leyland won a World Series with the Miami/Florida Marlins in 1997. He also got close with the Detroit Tigers, guiding that franchise to the championship series during the 2006 season. Leyland also nearly won while managing the Pittsburgh Pirates, bringing that franchise to a National League Championship Series in the early 1990s.
“When you weigh all of the outstanding managers during my generation, I think Jim’s the best of all of us. You weren’t going to out-manage Jim,’’ La Russa said, per USA Today.
Jim Leyland was a winner in MLB
Leyland managed several franchises over the course of multiple decades in MLB. He worked with the Pirates from 1986-1996, then the Marlins for two seasons. After a year in Colorado, Leyland stepped away from managerial roles for several years.
He returned to that post in 2006 with the Tigers. He stayed in Detroit through 2013, taking the franchise to a World Series. Leyland also spent some time as a coach in the 1980s with the Chicago White Sox. He hasn't managed since the 2013 season with Detroit. He won more than 50 percent of his games as a manager in MLB.
Another great manager during that time is Tony La Russa. La Russa won 3 World Series Championships, working with the St. Louis Cardinals and Oakland Athletics. He also managed the White Sox during the 1979-1986 seasons, before returning in 2021 to guide the the team for two more seasons.
La Russa is not the only person showing respect to Leyland. Leyland's former player in Florida, Gary Sheffield, showed his former mentor some respect.
“You know, the one thing I learned real quick about Jim is that he established that, ‘I’m the leader here, and everything that I say and do is a reflection of me,'” Sheffield said, per USA Today. “And all of the coaches were a reflection of him.”
Leyland won Manager of the Year three times during his tenure in MLB. He is now one of only four Hall of Fame managers who never played in the major leagues, per USA Today.
“I just have so much respect for him. He’d get on you when he needed to get on you, but he’d also treat guys the way you’re supposed to be treated,” Sheffield added.
Leyland is heading to Cooperstown with a who's who of other great baseball figures. Todd Helton, Adrian Beltré and Joe Mauer are also getting inducted with Leyland. Leyland is also a member of the Pittsburgh Pirates Hall of Fame, after winning division titles with that team from 1990-1992.
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