Leyland's Exit Marks the End of an Era

Monday marked the end of an era here in Detroit as Jim Leyland stepped down as manager of the Tigers after the team was eliminated from the American League Championship Series by the Boston Red Sox.  Although he had a relatively short tenure, the eight years Leyland spent as the Tigers' skipper were extremely successful and he left very big shoes to fill.

Leyland took over the Tigers in 2006 as part of an ongoing rebuilding project led by Owner Mike Ilitch and GM Dave Dombrowski.  Ilitch had the money to spend and Dombrowski had an elaborate plan to turn a team that lost 119 games a few years prior into a World Series contender.  The Tigers had already acquired veterans like Ivan Rodriguez, Magglio Ordonez, Kenny Rogers, Carlos Guillen, and Placido Polonco as well as up-and-coming stars like Justin Verlander and Curtis Granderson all prior to Leyland's hiring - but Jim was the gelling agent that came in and turned this "talent into a team."  In his very first season, Leyland led the Tigers to their first postseason appearance since 1987 and their first World Series appearance since 1984 - that was almost 20 years of playoff-less, October-less, and winning-less baseball in the Motor City!

Over his 8 year tenure, Jim led the Tigers to a 700-597 regular season record with only one losing season in that time.  He transformed the Tigers from a last place regular to yearly contenders in the AL Central, winning the division the last three seasons.  Not only have the Tigers never won three consecutive divisional pennants in franchise history but before Leyland became skipper, Detroit had only won three in the past 34 years!

Now don't get me wrong - a lot of his wins are due to the fact that the front office finally decided to be a large payroll club and hand out the big bucks to superstars like Miguel Cabrera, Justin Verlander, Prince Fielder, etc., but it has been evident that without an excellent clubhouse leader like Leyland, a team can have all the talent in the world and still fail.  Just look at last year's Red Sox - poor clubhouse presence led to their worst season in almost 50 years.  This season a new manager comes in and BOOM! - the Red Sox turn it around, win the ALCS and are World Series favorites.  I believe baseball is more of a team sport than any other on this planet - it is a lot more difficult for one player to individually win a game for his/her team in the MLB compared to the NBA or NFL and that is why it is so important to have that adhesive leader like Leyland to assure all cylinders are running full blast.

As a 22 year old Tigers fan, Jim Leyland means so much to me because he gave the generation of fans born after '87 something they never experienced - a winning baseball club.  I grew up going to games because it was a historic American past time for a young boy to be at a major league ball park with his dad rather than an actual entertaining event to watch.  I used to be more excited for the wave to come back around rather than anything actually happening on the field!

Leyland has managed to give the young fans today at Comerica Park something I would have envied to experience - a winning tradition.  Kids are excited for their team and always expect to come out on top.  They know that every time the Tigers walk out onto the field that a W is more than likely to happen and are on the edge of their seat for every pitch.  They will grow up to be a much better fan than I would ever consider myself because of the championship culture they've grown a custom to that I wasn't fortunate enough to experience.

These past eight years have been magical not only for Tigers fans but for the city as a whole.  In a time when Detroit looked like it was going to crumble to non-existence, Jim Leyland led these Tigers to win after win and instilled hope in a city that was rebuilding from the edge of destruction.  As a current resident of Detroit I can easily say there is nothing more enchanting than seeing this city come alive for Tigers' baseball.  Downtown is flooded in patrons donning the Old-English D, from a business man's ball cap to a homeless -man's coat - it can be seen no matter where you look.

In conclusion, replacing Jim will not be an easy feat.  There is a winning culture here in Detroit and whoever fills Leyland's shoes will not only have to win games but also the division, the league, and eventually a World Series - and anything less will be a monumental disappointment.