On Monday morning, Jim Leyland announced that he will step down as Manager of the Detroit Tigers after eight seasons. The announcement comes after an ALCS loss in which Detroit came up just short of another trip to the World Series.
Leyland leaves behind an American League dynasty that boasts three straight ALCS appearances and holds complete control over the Central Division.
Why, however, are there so many mixed opinions among the Detroit fan base about the grizzled veteran? Is it because General Manager Dave Dombrowski provided the skipper with so much talent that none of the credit was ever granted to him?
Leyland was constantly held to a double standard. When things were going poorly during the regular season, he took heat from all sides of the baseball world. However when the Tigers were winning, players like Justin Verlander and Miguel Cabrera were said to make his job easy.
Leyland was winning with the best players in the game, and as a result his value was taken for granted. But great players can't win by themselves.
As proof, look no further than 2013, which saw talent-laden teams finish with sub-.500 records. The Los Angeles Angels, despite adding Josh Hamilton to a roster that already included stars Mike Trout, Jered Weaver, Mark Trumbo and Howie Kendrick, finished in third place for the second straight year.
In the AL East, a trade that brought Cy Young Award winner R.A. Dickey, All-stars Jose Reyes and Josh Johnson and Mark Buerhle to Toronto resulted in just a one-win improvement from last year's 73-win effort for the Blue Jays.
In short, great managers are more important than ever in the MLB. Consider the Washington Nationals failing to make the postseason while the Pittsburgh Pirates moved on. Or Bob Melvin's Athletics cruising to an AL West title over the Rangers and Angels. In Tampa Bay, Joe Madden literally wills his Rays into the postseason race every season despite the deepest AL East in recent memory.
As a whole, managers are under appreciated in Major League Baseball; but Leyland got perhaps the lowest support of any. Despite the success of his team, he agreed to work on one-year contracts, earning his next year with every new season.
Earning it was far from easy.
This season, while Prince Fielder and Cabrera got credit for mashing the Tigers into the playoffs, Leyland got the blame for their disappearance in the postseason. In virtually every crucial moment during the 2013 postseason the two sluggers failed to come through, chasing balls out of the strike zone and leaving runners on base. If these athletes are given all the praise during the course of a 162-game season, why aren't they held responsible in October?
The answer is that fans simply find it easier to blame someone that doesn't take the field every day. As if in some way it excuses a team's incompetence, fans say managers are to blame for incorrectly using their team's superior players in the right way.
Take, for example, Joaquin Benoit. When countless closer options like rookie fireballer Bruce Rondon and headcase Jose Valverde failed to solidify the role, Leyland inserted reliable 8th inning man Benoit into the position. When Benoit was 22/22 in save opportunities during the regular season fans enjoyed the success and praised the veteran reliever. But in the ALCS when Benoit surrendered a game-tying grand slam to David Ortiz in game two, fans were up in arms about Leyland's use of the bullpen.
It's difficult for a manager to piece the late innings together when there are no reliable arms in the bullpen. That being said, Leyland accepted the criticism, and even added to it at times, without ever complaining.
Detroit's recent success has erased from baseball's collective memory just how terrible the Tigers were before the hiring of Jim Leyland. Not only had Detroit compiled five straight 90-loss seasons prior to Leyland's arrival, but it was also coming off of 12 consecutive losing season and was just two years removed from the second worst record in baseball history.
Essentially, the Tigers were the worst franchise in the MLB.
Then, in his first season Leyland led Detroit to one of the most memorable World Series appearances in baseball history; a run capped off by a Magglio Ordonez walk-off home run to sweep Oakland in the ALCS. For Detroit fans, this memory is one of the most special in the city's history, and it was possible because of this new manager.
After failing to make the playoffs in the following four seasons, despite just one losing record, Detroit has appeared in three straight ALCS battles. They are the first team in 20 years to win a division for three consecutive seasons and are set up for another deep run in 2014.
Leyland's career has seemingly been defined by the absence of a World Series ring, but it would be more fittingly remembered by four playoff appearances, four first-round victories and two trips to the biggest stage America's Pastime has to offer. For a team coming off of 12 consecutive losing seasons, Leyland's eight years yielded just one.
His tears of joy after every clinched playoff berth proved that the Tigers' leader deeply appreciated everything the game of baseball gave him. Leyland was a player's coach, but
worked for the fans and city of Detroit. His desire to entertain supporters was so great that emotion completely overcame him during every clubhouse celebration.
But he never accepted credit, he gave it all to his players.
Whether it was rookie stars like Justin Verlander in 2006, established veterans like Torii Hunter in 2013, or role players like Don Kelly, every player to don the English D loved playing for Leyland, and whoever takes the reins in 2014 will have an easier job because of that.
This man came to Detroit when it was the worst place in baseball to be. Now, it stands as one of the best. While the pain from 2013's ALCS loss is still fresh, the end of Leyland's era hurts even more.
So here's to Jim Leyland; who cried when we won, took the blame when we lost, and brought the Tigers we love back to Detroit.
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