DETROIT — Jim Leyland’s No. 10 was officially retired by the Detroit Tigers, with his name and number now displayed in white on a brick wall next to World Series champion Sparky Anderson.
“When I look out on that wall and see my name with the Tiger greats, it’s hard to believe,” Leyland remarked Saturday night during a pregame ceremony before Detroit faced the Kansas City Royals.
Leyland made his way to the on-field presentation in a slow-moving white Corvette, giving him the opportunity to wave to fans from the right field foul pole to Detroit’s dugout along the third base line.
He was inducted into baseball’s Hall of Fame last December, just two weeks before his 79th birthday, and last month he became the 23rd manager to be enshrined.
Over his 22-season career, Leyland won 1,769 regular-season games, including a 700-597 record from 2006-13 with the Tigers. He led Detroit to the World Series in 2006, his first season as the team’s manager, and again in 2012 when the franchise secured its second of four consecutive AL Central championships.
As the captain of the Bristol Tigers of the Appalachian League, he started his management career in 1971.
Todd Jones, who led the Tigers in career saves and replaced Jim Leyland as closer in 2006, said of Leyland, “Jim came to the Tigers at the perfect time.” “Mr. (Mike) Ilitch had invested in Pudge Rodriguez and then in Magglio Ordonez, so the team was reflecting that the city was on the rise, both culturally and economically. Jim Leyland, who put everything together for a group of players who, for the most part, hadn’t won anything, was then employed by him.
“He was the calming presence in that locker room for the guys at that time, and that’s what we needed.”
However, early in the 2006 season, Leyland believed the Tigers needed something different.
After a frustrating home game loss and before an upcoming road trip, Leyland was so upset with the team that he unleashed a tirade loud enough for reporters outside the clubhouse to hear.
“Guys were disrespecting other coaches, and he just wasn’t going to put up with it,” Jones recalled. “He said, ‘You guys make all the money and have all the fame, but I have the lineup card, and you’ll never play if you do that again to one of my coaches or disrespect the game.’”
The three-time Manager of the Year also led Pittsburgh, Florida, and Colorado, guiding the Marlins to a World Series victory in 1997. He managed the U.S. team to its only World Baseball Classic title in 2017.
The Tigers have also retired several other numbers: No. 1 (Lou Whitaker), No. 2 (Charlie Gehringer), No. 3 (Alan Trammell), No. 5 (Hank Greenberg), No. 6 (Al Kaline), No. 11 (Anderson), No. 16 (Hal Newhouser), No. 23 (Willie Horton), and No. 47 (Jack Morris).
Whitaker and Trammell played for the Bristol Tigers, while Horton was born in Wise County, Virginia.
Jackie Robinson’s number was retired throughout the major leagues in 1997, and his No. 42 is displayed next to Anderson and Leyland beyond the right-field seats in Comerica Park.
