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Jim Leyland: Hall of Famer?

Yes! 43 (40.19%)
No! 64 (59.81%)

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107 votes | 6 featured comments
Jim Leyland: Hall of Famer? | 6 comments | Create New Account
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Mick Doherty - Monday, October 16 2006 @ 10:31 AM EDT (#156963) #

There's a Hall Watch question for you! The following is a list of other managers who have led teams from both leagues to the World Series: Sparky Anderson, Yogi Berra, Alvin Dark, Tony LaRussa, Joe McCarthy, and Dick Williams. Pretty impressive! Three are in the Hall of Fame (though Berra is there as a player moreso) and another almost certainly will be (LaRussa) eventually.

Sure, he's "just" 1164-1198 at this point ... the ironic thing is he's managed three division winners and never taken one to the Series, and the two teams he's taken to the Series have been Wild Card qualifiers ...

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Mike Green - Monday, October 16 2006 @ 11:27 AM EDT (#156966) #
Why thanks, Mick.  I don't think much of Leyland, but if someone wants to argue the "yea" side, by way of a pinch-hit, I'd be delighted.  The most impressive thing about him, if you ask me, is his ability to fashion a good bullpen, often out of mediocre pitchers. 
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Kieran - Monday, October 16 2006 @ 02:36 PM EDT (#156970) #
Maybe it's just me...but I don't place any extra value on having won/appeared in the World Series in both leagues. Is that more impressive than having guided two teams from the same league? Or one team multiple times?
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Magpie - Monday, October 16 2006 @ 06:05 PM EDT (#156976) # 
                W     L    Pct Divsion Titles  Pennants  WS Wins
Jim Leyland   1164  1198  .493       3             2        1+
Dave Johnson  1148   888  .564       5             1        1
I like Leyland quite a bit, but I don't know why we'd be having this conversation.
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Craig B - Tuesday, October 17 2006 @ 12:02 PM EDT (#157003) #

Because Jim Leyland has won division titles or pennants with Pittsburgh and Florida and with a hopeless, foundering Detroit franchise.  Don't you think that is a quantifiably different achievement than Davey Johnson's with the Mets, Reds and Orioles?  (Ignoring his Dodgers years).

Davey Johnson was the manager of the most consistently underachieving team of the 1980s (Mets) and arguably also of the 1990s (Orioles).  That has to count for something.

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Mike Green - Tuesday, October 17 2006 @ 01:52 PM EDT (#157010) #
The core talent in Pittsburgh was very strong- Barry Bonds, Bonilla, Van Slyke and Drabek. It's always impressive to win with 3 straight division titles, but Leyland's success with the Pirates was, to my mind, less impressive than Cito's success with the Jays.  Cito took over a 12-24 team in 1989 and turned it around that season. 

As for the 1997 Marlin and 2006 Tiger success, Leyland does deserve some signficant credit, but personally I give much more of it to Dombrowski. 

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Jim Leyland: Hall of Famer? | 6 comments | Create New Account
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