Managerial and Coaching Career
Named the 36th manager in Tigers history on October 4, 2005...a veteran of 49 years in professional baseball, he
returns to the organization that originally signed him as a catcher on September 21, 1963 ... Agreed to a one-year contract extension with the Tigers through the 2013 season on October 30, 2012 ... Detroit has advanced to the post-season three times during his managerial career with the club, including winning the
American League Central Division in back-to-back seasons (2011-12) -- joined Hughie Jennings as the only two
managers in Tigers history to lead the club to post-season play in three seasons ... The Tigers have advanced to the World Series twice during his managerial tenure, doing so in 2006 and 2012 -- he is
the third manager in franchise history to guide a Tigers club to the World Series multiple times, joining Hughie Jennings
and Mickey Cochrane...Jennings led Detroit to three straight World Series (1907-09), while Cochrane led the Tigers to
the World Series in back-to-back seasons (1934-35) ... Earned the 600th win of his Tigers career on September 24, 2012 versus Kanas City -- became the third manager in
franchise history to register 600 victories with the club ... Registered the 500th victory of his Tigers career on September 2, 2011 versus the Chicago White Sox -- became the
fifth manager in franchise history to register 500 victories with the club ... Agreed to a one-year contract extension with the Tigers through the 2012 season on August 8, 2011 ... Earned the 1,500th win of his major league career on April 15, 2011 at Oakland -- became the 19th manager in major
league history to register 1,500 wins ... Managed the 3,000th game of his major league career on September 19, 2010 at Chicago's U.S. Cellular Field against
the White Sox -- became the 18th manager in major league history to manage 3,000 games ... Agreed to a two-year contract extension with the Tigers through the 2011 season on June 19, 2009 ... Tabbed the American League Manager of the Year by both the BBWAA and The Sporting News in 2006 after guiding
the Tigers to the franchise's first playoff berth since 1987 -- joined Sparky Anderson (1984, 1987) as the only other club
manager to garner the award from the BBWAA...selected the Major League Manager of the Year by Baseball America ... Joined the American League's All-Star squad as a coach for the final All-Star Game at Yankee Stadium in 2008, his fifth
appearance (twice as the manager, three times as a coach) at the All-Star Game ... Served as the American League's manager at the 78th Major League Baseball All-Star Game at AT&T Park in San
Francisco in 2007 -- served as the National League's manager at the 69th Major League Baseball All-Star Game at
Coors Field in Colorado in 1998...served as a coach for the National League squad in both 1991 and 1994 while
managing the Pirates ... Named the best manager in the American League by Baseball America in 2006, 2007 and 2012...tabbed the third-best
manager in the league by the publication in both 2008 and 2010, while he was named the second-best manager in the
league in 2009 ... Prior to his appointment as the Tigers manager, he served for six seasons (2000-05) as a major league scout for the
St. Louis Cardinals -- scouted National League clubs from Pittsburgh and American League clubs from Cleveland ... Previously served 14 seasons as a manager at the major league level with the Pittsburgh Pirates (1986-96), Florida
Marlins (1997-98) and Colorado Rockies (1999) ... Won three straight National League East Division championships with the Pirates (1990-92)...advanced to the postseason
with the Marlins as the National League's Wild Card winner in 1997 -- advanced past San Francisco and Atlanta
in the playoffs to defeat Cleveland to claim the World Series title ... Named the National League Manager of the Year by the BBWAA twice during his career in 1990 and 1992...earned the
same honor from The Sporting News three times during his career in 1988, 1990 and 1992 ... Earned his 1,000th career win as a major league manager on April 15, 1999, as the Rockies defeated San Diego 6-4 ... Served as Tony La Russa's third base coach for four seasons (1982-85) with the Chicago White Sox before being
named the 33rd manager in Pirates history on November 20, 1985...managed two games for the White Sox while Managed for 11 seasons at the minor league level in the Tigers organization (1971-81), advancing to the post-season
six times and claiming his respective league championship three times ... Selected as the manager of the year in the Florida State League in both 1977 and 1978, while he earned the honor in
the American Association in 1979 ... Served as a coach for Rocky Mount in the first half of the 1971 season before receiving his first managerial experience
with Bristol that same season
Playing Career
Spent six seasons as a minor league catcher in the Tigers organization (1964-69) before serving as a coach at Montgomery in 1970 -- appeared in two games as a player with Montgomery in 1970
Personal
In recognition of his accomplishments in 1990, he won the Dapper Dan Man of the Year Award, an annual honor given to a Pittsburgh sports figure for outstanding achievement on a national level ... A native of Perrysburg, OH, he lettered in football, basketball and baseball at Perrysburg High School...the school's baseball field is named after Leyland...was inducted into Perrysburg High School's Hall of Fame on February 2, 2007 ... Inducted into the Florida State League Hall of Fame on November 10, 2010 ... Actively participated with Tigers Dreams Come True and the Detroit Tigers Autographed Memorabilia Donation Program, served as a spokesman for Major League Baseball's Father's Day program to support the Prostate Cancer Foundation, greets service members participating in the Detroit Tigers Armed Forces Game Ball Delivery Program, attended the Ilitch Charities Gala and "Keeping Kids in the Game" and participated in the Tigers Winter Caravan ... He, his wife Katie and their two children Patrick (10/11/91) and Kellie (6/23/93) reside in Pittsburgh, PA during the offseason... his brother, Tom, is a retired Catholic priest and he performed their wedding ceremony in November of 1987 ... His son, Patrick, was selected by the Tigers in the eighth round of the 2010 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft -- Patrick saw action with Single A West Michigan during the 2012 season.