Perrotto: Jim Leyland Has 10 Minutes to Recap 51 Years

COOPERSTOWN, N.Y. – Jim Leyland has spent 51 seasons in professional baseball.

He never made it past Double-A as a catcher in Detroit’s farm system and then spent 11 seasons managing Tigers’ farm clubs. So, he paid his dues – and then some.

He was the Chicago White Sox’s third base coach for four years then a manager in the big leagues for 22, including the first nine seasons with the Pittsburgh Pirates from 1986-96.

He won a World Series and a World Baseball Classic as a manager. He has been a special advisor to the front office with the St. Louis Cardinals and Tigers and Major League Baseball’s central office.

That’s a lot of stuff to pack into five decades. And it led to a difficult challenge for Leyland as he gets set to be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame on Sunday with Adrian Beltre, Todd Helton and Joe Mauer.

Leyland had the boil 51 years down to the 10-minute speech. He tried his best to craft something memorable with help from his daughter Kellie.

“I don’t say that much about all of them,” Leyland said Saturday referring to the various stages of his career. “I want to hit on the important stuff, and I hope everyone picks up on that. I’m not going to necessarily give a description of every place I was and all that. In passing, I think I will have right the points, but I think people will understand and hopefully appreciate what I say.”

A nervous sort by nature, Leyland admits he’ll be feeling anxious when he takes the stage in the field behind the Clark Sports Center.

“It’s going to be a little nerve-wracking,” Leyland said.

Many of Leyland’s former coaches and players are expected to be on hand. One might be Barry Bonds, who played seven seasons for Leyland with the Pirates and is baseball’s all-time home run leader with 762.

Multiple baseball sources told Pittsburgh Baseball Now that Bonds is expected to be in Cooperstown.

Bonds failed to gain election to the Hall of Fame during his 10 years on the Baseball Writers Association of America ballot. He has also been passed over by one of the Hall’s veterans’ committees.

So, it will create quite a stir if Bonds shows up.

“I’m going to address that right now,” Leyland said coyly. “But you could think about and maybe draw your own conclusions.”

Should Bonds show up in this Central New York village, he will hear a speech influenced by Leyland’s daughter in a subtle but direct way.

“A lot of people give you advice about the speech,” Leyland said. “My daughter gave me the best advice. She said, ‘Dad, just tell them how you feel.’ It’s really that simple and that’s what I’m going to try to do.”

Leyland has never been afraid to show his emotional side. Something seemingly as trivial as a win in extra innings could get him choked up when he was managing.

Thus, it seems certain Leyland won’t be able to get through the entire speech without crying.

“It’s like George Brett told me,” Leyland said, referring to the Hall of Fame third baseman. “If you don’t get choked about being inducted in the Hall of Fame, you probably will never get choked up about anything.

“I’m an emotional person. I don’t know why. If I could stop it, I would. But this a special moment and it will be difficult to take the emotion out of it.”

Leyland doesn’t need to keep his emotions in check. It is the crowning achievement of a remarkable five-decade career.

Even though he has just 10 minutes to encapsulate it.