DETROIT — One of the favorite memories of my career is of Jim Leyland, when he was the Detroit Tigers’ manager, conducting a morning interview in his office while lying on his couch, wearing a bathrobe and smoking a cigarette.
The only way to provide you with anything close to an accurate visual image of Leyland’s pose is to compare it to that time Kate asked Leo to draw her like one of his French girls in “Titanic.”
Leyland, 77, who hasn't managed the Tigers in nine years, remains one of my favorite sports personalities. The pregame meeting in the baseball manager’s office remains the most unique dynamic in all of American sports and Leyland was a masterful conductor — some might say manipulator — within that space. He could be hilarious, petulant, generous and combative. Above all else, he was always engaging and insightful.
