Sports
Jim Leyland
born 1944 · baseball manager
Hall of Fame manager who began his career in the Tigers' farm system and returned to lead Detroit to American League pennants in 2006 and 2012.
- Born
Perrysburg, Ohio
age 81- Birth name
- James Richard Leyland
- Detroit years
- 1963–1970s, 2006–2013, 2014–present
- Field
- Sports
01 / The Detroit story
The Detroit story
Leyland signed with the Tigers as a catcher in 1963, just out of high school in Perrysburg, Ohio, near Toledo. He never reached the majors as a player, but he began managing in Detroit's minor-league system in the early 1970s and learned his trade there before coaching and managing elsewhere, including a World Series title with Florida in 1997. In 2006 the Tigers hired him to take over a team that had lost 119 games only three years earlier. His first season in Detroit ended with an American League pennant and a World Series appearance, and Comerica Park came alive again. He led the Tigers to three straight division titles from 2011 to 2013 and another pennant in 2012, becoming, with Hughie Jennings, the only Detroit manager to reach the postseason three times. After retiring in 2013 he stayed on as a special assistant, and he was elected to the Hall of Fame in 2024.
Highlights
- Signed with the Tigers as a player in 1963
- Managed the Tigers 2006–2013
- American League pennants in 2006 and 2012
- Michigan Sports Hall of Fame (2017) and Baseball Hall of Fame (2024)
02 / Their Detroit places
Their Detroit places 1
Where they lived, worked, performed and liked to hang out. Closed and demolished places stay here too, because they are part of the city's history.
Worked here · 2006–2013
Comerica Park
Home of his pennant-winning Tigers teams. The park is due to be renamed Fifth Third Park before 2027.