Former Detroit Tigers manager Jim Leyland elected to Baseball Hall of Fame
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Former Detroit Tigers manager Jim Leyland, who managed 22 seasons for four franchises, is headed to the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York.
Leyland, 78, was voted into the Baseball Hall of Fame on Sunday by a 16-member Contemporary Era committee as a result of his inclusion on the ballot for managers, executives and umpires. He received 15 of 16 votes and will be inducted July 21, 2024. Leyland was the only one of eight candidates on the ballot, which also featured former MLB managers Cito Gaston, Davey Johnson and Lou Piniella, selected for induction
Leyland, who currently works as a special assistant in the Tigers' front office, managed 3,499 games across 22 seasons, made eight postseason appearances and won the 1997 World Series with the Florida Marlins. He secured Manager of the Year awards in 1990, 1992 and 2006.
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He managed the Pittsburgh Pirates (1986-96), Marlins (1997-98), Colorado Rockies (1999) and Tigers (2006-13) throughout his Hall of Fame-caliber career, along with managing Team USA to the 2017 World Baseball Classic championship.
Leyland is the only manager in baseball history to win a World Series and WBC title.
He won 1,769 games in his 22-year managerial career: 851 games with the Pirates, 146 games with the Marlins, 72 games with the Rockies and 700 games with the Tigers. He ranks 17th in games and 18th in wins on the all-time leaderboard.
Leyland is one of two managers in baseball history to win three straight division titles with two franchises. He three-peated in the National League East with the Pirates from 1990-92 and in the American League Central with the Tigers from 2011-13.
He guided the Tigers to the World Series in 2006 and 2012 — one of three managers in franchise history to lead the Tigers to at least two World Series appearances — but lost to the St. Louis Cardinals in 2006 and the San Francisco Giants in 2012.
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Leyland, who turns 79 in less than two weeks, was one of eight candidates on the Hall of Fame's Contemporary Era ballot for managers, executives and umpires. He was voted into the Hall of Fame by a 16-member committee that included Hall of Fame players Jeff Bagwell, Tom Glavine, Chipper Jones, Ted Simmons and Jim Thome, plus Hall of Fame manager Joe Torre and Hall of Fame former commissioner Bud Selig.
The other nine members of the committee: executives Sandy Alderson, Bill DeWitt, Michael Hill, Ken Kendrick, Andy MacPhail and Phyllis Merhige, and media members/historians Sean Forman, Jack O'Connell and Jesus Ortiz.
The ballot also included umpires Joe West and Ed Montague, former National League president Bill White and former general manager Hank Peters.
Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him @EvanPetzold.
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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Ex-Detroit Tigers manager Jim Leyland elected to Baseball Hall of Fame
