Former Tigers manager Jim Leyland elected to Baseball Hall of Fame: 'I'm flattered'

When the call hadn't come by 6:30 p.m. Sunday, Jim Leyland excused himself from his family.

"I went upstairs and actually laid down in the bed," he said. "I didn't think the call was coming and I thought I'd just rest a minute and kind of get my thoughts together."

His son Patrick and wife Katie came up to check on him and then, at 6:50 p.m., his phone rang. Leyland, who managed for 22 seasons in the big leagues, his last eight with the Tigers, was voted into baseball’s Hall of Fame in Cooperstown on Sunday by the 16-member Contemporary Baseball Era Committee.

He will be inducted on July 21, 2024.

"There was definitely a tear in my eye, yes," he said. "I'm flattered and proud to be inducted into the baseball Hall of Fame. It's the highest honor you can get in our business."

Leyland had done his level best to quiet the anxiety leading up Sunday's vote.

"I'm almost ashamed to say that I didn't take it that serious to start with because I didn't really think I had a chance," he said, speaking to some 60 reporters on a zoom call. "As it got a little closer, I did start to get a little excited about it, a little nervous about it. It seemed like today time passed so fast until the last half hour, last hour before for they were going to make the announcement.

"To be honest with you, I really didn't think I was going to get in. But the heart did start beating about around 6:30 p.m. when I didn't get the call. I finally got the call about 10 minutes to 7 p.m. It was racing pretty good."

On the ballot with managers Lou Piniella, Davey Johnson and Cito Gaston, as well as umpires Joe West and Ed Montague, and executives Bill White and Hank Peters. Leyland got 15 of the 16 votes.

Twelve votes are needed for induction. Piniella, for the second straight year, missed out by one vote.

"It's the final stop, really, as far as your baseball career goes," Leyland said. "To end up here, to land here in Cooperstown, it doesn't get any better than that. That's the ultimate. I certainly never thought it was going to happen. Most people don't. But it did, and I'm sure I'm going to enjoy it."

His credentials are impeccable. Leyland managed 3,499 games, 17th-most all-time, and won 1,769 — 18th most all-time — including 700 with the Tigers from 2006-13. He also managed the Pirates, Marlins and Rockies.

More: 'Jim's got the fire back': Leyland's renaissance in Detroit sent him to the Hall of Fame

He took the Tigers to the playoffs four times and to the World Series twice — in 2006 and 2012. But his one World Series title came in 1997, when he led the Marlins to their first championship.

Leyland is one of just 11 managers to win pennants in both leagues.

In 2017, he managed Team USA to the World Baseball Classic championship.

He won Manager of the Year honors in 1990 and 1992 with the Pirates, and in 2006 with the Tigers, a team that had lost 91 games in 2005 and hadn’t had a winning season since 1993.

“The Detroit Tigers have been led by incredibly successful managers since 1901, and Jim Leyland stands out among that group as the skipper for one of the best on-field stretches the Tigers ever experienced,” said Tigers chairman and CEO Chris Ilitch. “Jim has won a World Series and led teams to three league championships and managed his country’s best players to the United States’ first World Baseball Classic title.

“Those accomplishments, in addition to his mentorship of players off the field and gritty resolve in the dugout, cement Jim’s place among the few managers in baseball history who are bestowed this honor.”

In the hectic hour after he got the news, Leyland was able to fire off quick thank-you calls to his mentors and friends Tony La Russa, Joe Torre, Gene Lamont, as well as commissioner Rob Manfred. He will be in Nashville, the site of the MLB Winter Meetings, Monday for his formal Hall of Fame press conference.

“I can’t thank baseball enough,” Leyland said. “It’s been my life and I owe a lot to the game itself.”

The 16-member committee, appointed by the Hall of Fame, includes Hall of Fame members Jeff Bagwell, Tom Glavine, Chipper Jones, Bud Selig, Ted Simmons, Jim Thome and Torre; major league executives Sandy Alderson, Bill DeWitt, Michael Hill, Ken Kendrick, Andy MacPhail and Phyllis Merhige; and veteran media members/historians Sean Forman, Jack O’Connell and Jesus Ortiz.

chris.mccosky@detroitnews.com

@cmccosky