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Jim Leyland doesn’t know how right he is about the cap for Baseball Hall of Fame plaque
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- Jim Leyland doesn’t know how right he is about the cap for Baseball Hall of Fame plaque
Even over the phone from his home in Florida, I could the hear the caution in Jim Leyland's voice.
The Hall of Fame-bound manager is famous for his gruff-but-lovable persona. He has endless stories about baseball. But right now, he's caught in a game of pickle while rounding third and heading for home, and I could hear it Thursday when we spoke about a touchy subject.
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Which logo will he wear on his cap when he's inducted July 21 in Cooperstown?
Because more than anything, Leyland is a respectful person, especially when it comes to the game. He managed four teams over 22 years in the majors and you could make a case for him wearing the caps of three of those teams on his Hall of Fame plaque: the Pittsburgh Pirates , the Florida Marlins and the Detroit Tigers .
On Tuesday, Leyland and his wife, Katie, took the customary private tour for Baseball Hall of Fame inductees. During the day-long tour, hall officials asked him what he thought.
"They wanted me to say some kind of a quote," Leyland said, "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.'
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"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."
Newly elected Baseball Hall of Fame inductee Jim Leyland signs his name to the backer board of his plaque during a news conference Tuesday, Jan. 30, 2024, in Cooperstown, New York.
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The Hall of Fame made the final decision on the cap Friday — no logo. Of course, with Leyland stating his preference for no logo, it was hard to imagine the Hall overriding the decision of a guy who filled out 1,769 winning lineup cards.
Leyland might not know how right he is. Because it's time for the Baseball Hall of Fame to stop using hat logos on plaques. What's even the point, beyond a barstool debate? Does anyone need the "NY" logo to tell them Babe Ruth was a Yankee? And does it even matter? Greg Maddux doesn't have a logo on his hat, so we'll never really, truly know if he's a Cub or a Brave (or a Padre or a Dodger). Yet somehow the sun still rises every day.
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But the hat issue was only a small part of Leyland's tour. I wasn't there for Leyland's visit, but I joined Alan Trammell for his tour in 2018 and Leyland told me his was similarly impressive and exhaustive.
"They're really unbelievably organized," he said. "I couldn't say how great they were to us. It was just fantastic."
Leyland's tour came nearly two months since the announcement of his election Dec. 3. He was emotional and overwhelmed then, as he was again this week when the prospect of entering baseball's pantheon of immortality shifted from being a theoretical construct to a tangible experience.
During the tour, inductees receive special passage to the lower levels of the building where some of baseball most hallowed artifacts reside. But one particular item made Leyland emotional when he saw it and held it.
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"I actually got a little choked-up by Al Kaline's glove," he said, recalling the last time he saw his friend before he died in April 2020 at age 85. "You know, he had so many Gold Gloves and they had one of his gloves there.
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"It's pretty interesting because you have to put on latex gloves if you touch anything. I got to hold Babe Ruth's bat and Lou Gehrig's glove and it was unbelievable."
I asked Leyland what his favorite part of the experience was, even though I had a good idea. It's a special moment that all inductees go through and there's a ceremonial sense of occasion to the process.
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"From a selfish standpoint," he said, "my favorite part was signing where my plaque is gonna be. But from a broader view type of thing, the special tour was my favorite."
Now there are only two things left for Leyland to do. He must pick out a few artifacts that represent his career. He has a few ideas already.
The second is more dauting and its challenge traces back to Leyland's respect for the game and the people in it. He has to write his acceptance speech.
"I can't possibly thank everybody that's helped me," he said. "I can't do it. I mean, there's just too many people. And I don't want to bore the audience. I mean, they don't want to hear you just read off a bunch of names."
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It's almost hard to imagine that Leyland, one of the sports world's great communicators, is sweating what he's going to say.
Newly elected Baseball Hall of Fame inductee Jim Leyland tours the plaque room after a news conference Tuesday, Jan. 30, 2024, in Cooperstown, New York.
But even now, 10 years after he managed his final game, there's still some of the old skipper in Leyland at age 79. So he's doing some pregame scouting.
"I've actually been Googling and getting like Tony LaRussa's speech, Joe Torre's speech, Bobby Cox's speech, Earl Weaver's speech," he said. "And then I even went through some of the players to see what their thought process was on the speech."
At the very least, Leyland doesn't want to prattle on or sound like he's reading the phonebook, even if it's impossible to imagine him doing that. But there's another issue that's poses a very real challenge for Leyland.
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"I'm a little concerned about my speech, you know?" he said. "I don't want to have too much emotional stuff. My speech is just gonna be hard for me, but I think I'll be able to do and I think I'll be able to get through it."
I have no idea what Leyland will say. But I guarantee you it will be interesting, heartfelt and especially respectful of the game and the people in it.
Contact Carlos Monarrez: cmonarrez@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @cmonarrez .
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Jim Leyland gave Baseball Hall of Fame perfect answer about cap logo
