One of my favorite writers Terry Foster has and article up on the Detroit News’ website in which Jim Leyland indicates that he 
would like to be back for another season managing the Tigers and perhaps more. He also says that he doesn’t want to be the problem for the Tigers struggles after the All-Star break but if he is then fire him…
“I love it here,” he said. “We have great fans, great ownership who wants to win.”
I have a contract for next year. I want to manage the Tigers,” Leyland said. “But it is pretty simple for me. If at any point you think the coach or the manager is the problem, then you should get a different one. ” Later, Leyland added: “I am thrilled he wants me back next year, hopefully longer. But we will see how it plays out. I never want to be the problem. If I am ever the problem, like I said, you should get somebody else. That is what I would do if I were the boss.”
All of this comes a day after Tigers owner Mike Ilitch said during the Wings’ press conference introducing Mike Modano that he would like to have both Jim Leyland and GM Dave Dombrowski back next season.
Since Leyland took over in 2006, the Tigers are 396-362 and have finished second in the division three times.
The Dombrowski-Leyland partnership: “We have had three out of four pretty good years. It was only two weeks ago we were in the thick of the race. I think we have done a pretty good job. We have. I think I have a pretty good idea of how the organization has been run. I think it has worked out pretty good.”
All of this comes a day after Tigers owner Mike Ilitch said during the Wings’ press conference introducing Mike Modano that he would like to have both Jim Leyland and GM Dave Dombrowski back next season.
Since Leyland took over in 2006, the Tigers are 396-362 and have finished second in the division three times.
Foster also mentioned the Leyland also touched on various other issues that encircle the team right now…
The Dombrowski-Leyland partnership: “We have had three out of four pretty good years. It was only two weeks ago we were in the thick of the race. I think we have done a pretty good job. We have. I think I have a pretty good idea of how the organization has been run. I think it has worked out pretty good.”
Why he doesn’t talk much with Ilitch: “He has a lot more important things to do than worry about me. I never bother Mr. Ilitch. I have probably only talked with him twice in the five years here. I think it is a great relationship. Mr. Ilitch says, ‘You are the manager, go do your job.’ He lets you do your job and that is a real good thing. He never interferes.”
Could Leyland manage under a hands-on owner? “Could I live with an owner who says, ‘This is your lineup tonight’? No. Could I live with an owner who came in every night to say, ‘How you doing? How are things going? What do we need to do to get better? I am not satisfied with some things here.’ I can live with that. I think that’s fine. Could I live with a general manager
or an owner that told me who to play? No. That’s not going to happen.”
On using tirades to fire up his team: “I am going to be positive. I am not going to be negative. They don’t need that. You can talk about it on the talk shows. You can yell and tip over tables, but that is not what this team needs. This team needs coaches and a manager that right now can help them through tough times, get them acclimated to the big leagues, encourage them. They don’t need negative (stuff) and I am not going to do it.”
On faking tirades: “I don’t argue with umpires to get my players fired up and I don’t yell at my team just to pacify somebody from a talk show and let them know that I went off and it was a dandy. Or someone say, ‘Boy you should have heard all those four-letter words,’ and all that. I don’t do that to appease people. When I get ticked off, I let it out. I am not even thinking about it. I am not going to worry about a newspaper or talk show to talk about it. You can’t plan to get ticked off.”
On maturity: “If I were dumb and a younger manager, I might appease the public and tear the (bleeping) clubhouse apart and set the place on fire, so the fans will say, ‘He really cares.’ If I were young and dumb, I might do that. But I am not young and dumb any more. I am not young for sure. I might be dumb, but I am not young. I don’t fall for that (bleep). I don’t buy it.”
On fundamental baseball: “It is always my pet peeve whenever they get a new manager the first thing they say is, ‘We are going to work on fundamentals.’ Every (bleeping) manager that ever worked with that team worked on fundamentals. I go to spring training every year. I watch those other clubs. They work on bunts. That is what the Tigers do. That is what the Blue Jays do. That is what the Orioles do and that is what the Mets do. They work on pickoff plays. They work on cut-offs and relays. Every (bleeping) manager and every team in baseball does that.
“Screw that hitting the cut-off man. Hit the ball out the ballpark or pitch good and manage good and win (bleeping) games.
“Did we play a bad game (Friday)? We played our butts off. We made every play possible. We didn’t get any hits. (Brandon) Inge made a highlight play. (Ryan) Raburn made one. (Austin) Jackson made one and (Brennan) Boesch made one. We could have been all over ESPN. But we got our butts beat because we didn’t get any hits.”
Could Leyland manage under a hands-on owner? “Could I live with an owner who says, ‘This is your lineup tonight’? No. Could I live with an owner who came in every night to say, ‘How you doing? How are things going? What do we need to do to get better? I am not satisfied with some things here.’ I can live with that. I think that’s fine. Could I live with a general manager
or an owner that told me who to play? No. That’s not going to happen.”On using tirades to fire up his team: “I am going to be positive. I am not going to be negative. They don’t need that. You can talk about it on the talk shows. You can yell and tip over tables, but that is not what this team needs. This team needs coaches and a manager that right now can help them through tough times, get them acclimated to the big leagues, encourage them. They don’t need negative (stuff) and I am not going to do it.”
On faking tirades: “I don’t argue with umpires to get my players fired up and I don’t yell at my team just to pacify somebody from a talk show and let them know that I went off and it was a dandy. Or someone say, ‘Boy you should have heard all those four-letter words,’ and all that. I don’t do that to appease people. When I get ticked off, I let it out. I am not even thinking about it. I am not going to worry about a newspaper or talk show to talk about it. You can’t plan to get ticked off.”
On maturity: “If I were dumb and a younger manager, I might appease the public and tear the (bleeping) clubhouse apart and set the place on fire, so the fans will say, ‘He really cares.’ If I were young and dumb, I might do that. But I am not young and dumb any more. I am not young for sure. I might be dumb, but I am not young. I don’t fall for that (bleep). I don’t buy it.”
On fundamental baseball: “It is always my pet peeve whenever they get a new manager the first thing they say is, ‘We are going to work on fundamentals.’ Every (bleeping) manager that ever worked with that team worked on fundamentals. I go to spring training every year. I watch those other clubs. They work on bunts. That is what the Tigers do. That is what the Blue Jays do. That is what the Orioles do and that is what the Mets do. They work on pickoff plays. They work on cut-offs and relays. Every (bleeping) manager and every team in baseball
does that.“Screw that hitting the cut-off man. Hit the ball out the ballpark or pitch good and manage good and win (bleeping) games.
“Did we play a bad game (Friday)? We played our butts off. We made every play possible. We didn’t get any hits. (Brandon) Inge made a highlight play. (Ryan) Raburn made one. (Austin) Jackson made one and (Brennan) Boesch made one. We could have been all over ESPN. But we got our butts beat because we didn’t get any hits.”
