DETROIT — Jim Leyland’s No. 10 was retired by the Detroit Tigers, putting the Hall of Fame manager’s name and number in white on a brick wall next to World Series winner Sparky Anderson.
“When I look out on that wall and see my name with the Tiger greats, it’s hard to believe,” Leyland said Saturday night during a pregame ceremony before Detroit played the Kansas City Royals.
Leyland arrived for the on-field presentation after a slow ride in a white Corvette, giving him a chance to wave to fans from the foul pole in right to Detroit’s dugout along the third base line.
He was voted into baseball’s Hall of Fame last December, two weeks shy of his 79th birthday and last month became the 23rd manager inducted.
Leyland won 1,769 regular-season games over 22 seasons, 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 in 2012 when the franchise won its second of four straight AL Central championships.
“Jim Leyland came to the Tigers at the at the perfect time,” said Todd Jones, the Tigers’ career saves leader and Leyland’s closer in 2006. “The city was on the way up, culturally and economically, and the team was reflecting that because Mr. (Mike) Ilitch had invested in Pudge Rodriguez and then in Magglio Ordonez. He then hired Jim Leyland, who put it all together for a group of guys who for the most part hadn’t won much.”
“He was the calming presence in that locker room for the guys at that time, and that’s what that’s what we needed.”
Early in the 2006 season, though, Leyland thought the Tigers needed something else.
He was so upset with the team after losing a home game, and before going on a road trip, that he screamed at them in a tirade that was so loud reporters outside the clubhouse could hear what he was saying.
“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 you got 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 if you disrespect the game.'”
The three-time Manager of the Year also led Pittsburgh, Florida and Colorado, helping the Marlins win the World Series in 1997. He managed the U.S. team in 2017 when the Americans won their only World Baseball Classic title.
The Tigers have also retired No. 1 (Lou Whitaker), No. 2 (Charle 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).
Jackie Robinson’s number was retired throughout the major leagues in 1997 and his No. 42 is next to Anderson and Leyland beyond the right-field seats in Comerica Park.
