Jim Leyland’s career with the Tigers began in 1963 as a minor-league catcher, and continued in the early 1970s as a minor-league coach and manager.
By 1979, he had reached Triple A, in Evansville, and always dreamed what it would be like to be managing up just one more level.
But that same year, the Tigers hired a sure-fire future Hall-of-Famer in Sparky Anderson. In 1982, Leyland made the hard choice to leave the organization and join Tony La Russa’s staff with the White Sox, In 1985, Leyland was finally a major-league manager, with the Pirates.
“I really never thought I’d get to manage the Tigers,” Leyland said.