SI

Lots of reasons to like the retiring Jim Leyland, and to miss him

He was a mess after former Tigers pitcher Mark Fidrych died. Leyland had managed Fidrych in the minor leagues, and the thought of Fidrych dying at age 54 hit

Michael Rosenberg

Lots of reasons to like the retiring Jim Leyland, and to miss him
Lots of reasons to like the retiring Jim Leyland, and to miss him /
Jim Leyland could be gruff but he frequently showed his emotions, most recently at his retirement press conference.
Jim Leyland could be gruff but he frequently showed his emotions, most recently at his retirement press conference :: Paul Sancya/AP

He was a mess after former Tigers pitcher Mark Fidrych died. Leyland had managed Fidrych in the minor leagues, and the thought of Fidrych dying at age 54 hit him hard. But other times, a famous baseball figure would die at age 90 or 93, and if Leyland had any connection to the man, somebody would ask Leyland about him. He would share a story and some thoughts, and then he would point out: That person was old when he passed, and he had lived a heck of a life. If you looked through the cigarette smoke, you could see the man's point.

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Michael Rosenberg
MICHAEL ROSENBERG

Michael Rosenberg is a senior writer for Sports Illustrated, covering any and all sports. He writes columns, profiles and investigative stories and has covered almost every major sporting event. He joined SI in 2012 after working at the Detroit Free Press for 13 years, eight of them as a columnist. Rosenberg is the author of "War As They Knew It: Woody Hayes, Bo Schembechler and America in a Time of Unrest." Several of his stories also have been published in collections of the year's best sportswriting. He is married with three children.

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