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Check out Jim Leyland's Baseball Hall of Fame plaque and its Detroit Tigers mention
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- Check out Jim Leyland's Baseball Hall of Fame plaque and its Detroit Tigers mention
After former Detroit Tigers manager Jim Leyland was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame on Sunday afternoon in Cooperstown, N.Y., the Hall released the first look at Leyland's plaque on social media .
There wasn't much surprise about the hat on the plaque; The Hall had already announced that Leyland, who managed three other MLB franchises in addition to the Tigers, would wear a blank cap.
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The wording on Leyland's plaque well represents his 22 seasons as a big-league manager … mostly .
Former Detroit Tigers manager Jim Leyland's plaque for the Baseball Hall of Fame, released on Sunday, July 21, 2024.
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After introducing Leyland as a "master strategist and motivator" who "galvanized youngsters and veterans to lead three franchises to the postseason and win a World Series title," the Hall breaks down his time with those franchises.
His time with the Pittsburgh Pirates , covering 1986-96 and 851 victories, receives 25 of the 96 words in the main text. A two-season stint with the then-Florida Marlins , in which he won his lone World Series, receives 10. And his eight seasons with the Tigers, featuring 700 wins, three division titles and two pennants, get 22. His only season with the Colorado Rockies , in which he went 72-90 in 1999, is unmentioned in the main text.
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The semi-snub of the Rockies isn't completely unexpected, either, as Leyland told the Free Press in February when the lack of a logo was announced.
"They wanted me to say some kind of a quote," Leyland said, recounting his first visit to Cooperstown as a Hall of Famer, "and I said, 'Well, I think by not going in with anything on the hat shows respect to all the teams because I didn't want to disrespect anybody.'
"I mean, I just can't. I mean, how do you disrespect the Tigers or the Pirates or the Marlins or even the Rockies, technically? I know that was probably not going to be in play, but still you have to show the respect."
The full text from the plaque:
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James Richard Leyland
"Jim"
Pittsburgh, N.L., 1986-96; Florida, N.L., 1997-98; Colorado, N.L., 1999; Detroit, A.L., 2006-13"
"Master strategist and motivator galvanized youngsters and veterans to lead three franchises to the postseason and win a World Series title. Debuted as manager with the Pirates in 1986, guiding rebuild that resulted in three straight N.L. East crowns from 1990-92. After 11 seasons in Pittsburgh, melded a reassembled Marlins team into world champions in 1997. Over eight seasons at the helm of the Tigers, piloted team to three first-place finishes and A.L. pennants in 2006 and 2012. Winner of Manager of the Year award twice in NL. (1990, 1992) and once again in A.L. (2006)."
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Jim Leyland's Baseball Hall of Fame plaque and Detroit Tigers mention
