Jim Leyland reveals varying range of emotions he experienced after Hall of Fame election: "Excited, surprised & flattered"
MLB manager Jim Leyland is the National Baseball Hall of Fame’s newest member, as officially announced on Sunday night during the winter meetings in Nashville.
Leyland was named on 15 of 16 ballots, as revealed by the Hall’s Contemporary Baseball Era Non-Players Committee. The body examines Hall of Fame cases of managers, umpires and executives whose career highlights took place after 1980.
The nominations required a minimum of 12 ballots to get elected to the Hall. Former manager Lou Piniella was named on 11 ballots, missing out by a whisker. Other nominees included managers Cito Gaston and Davey Johnson, umpires Ed Montague and Joe West along with executives Bill White and Hank Peters.
Leyland will become the 23rd manager since 2014 to be inducted into the Hall of Fame. Joe Torre, Tonny LaRussa and Bobby Cox made the trip to Cooperstown nine years back.
"The moment Jim Leyland and his wife Katie heard he was elected to the Class of 2024!" - National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum posted on Twitter.
In a conversation with the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Leyland revealed the range of emotions that he experienced when the news was broken to him. He said,
“It's the highest honor you can get in our business, and I'm thrilled, excited, surprised and flattered.”
“I couldn't believe it, there was definitely a tear in my eye,” he added.
Jim Leyland’s illustrious career in baseball
Jim Leyland started his baseball journey as a player but never advanced beyond Double-A in his days as a minor league catcher. He eventually went on to make a name for himself as a coach.
He landed his first big managerial role with the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1986. He led the Pirates to three consecutive division titles between 1990 and ‘92.
He joined the erstwhile Florida Marlins in 1996, guiding them to a historic World Series title the year after. Leyland also had a brief one-season stint with the Colorado Rockies in 1999.
He wrapped up his glorious managerial career after an eight-season stint with the Detroit Tigers between 2006 and ‘13. He still serves the Tigers as a special assistant.
When the Tigers won the 2006 American League Championship Series, Leyland became the seventh manager in history to have won titles in both the National and American League. He led the Tigers to another ALCS win in 2012.
Jim Leyland won the Manager of the Year Award on three occasions - 1990, 1992 in the NL (Pirates), and 2006 in the AL (Tigers).