I was at a Pittsburgh-area Giant Eagle over the summer and eager to check my weight/blood pressure at one of those little machines that sit by the pharmacy.

I noticed some guy was already using the machine. I said, “‘Damn it, Leyland is using it.” I then decided to buy the few things I came in for before checking back moments later. “Damn, how long does it take to check your blood pressure?”

Long-time MLB manager Jim Leyland was voted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame on Sunday by the Contemporary Baseball Era Non-Players Committee. Leyland managed four teams–Pirates, Marlins, Rockies and Tigers–over a total of 22 seasons. In 3,499 career games, Leyland compiled a record of 1769-1728 (and two ties). Leyland-managed teams won six division titles and made the postseason a total of eight times. Leyland won three pennants–one with the Marlins (1997); and two with the Tigers (2006 and 2012)–and a World Series title with Florida in 1997.

Leyland, 78, was also named Manager of the Year three times–twice with the Pirates (1990 and 1992); and once with the Tigers (2006).

Leyland retired after the 2013 season but came back in 2017 to manage Team USA to a championship in the World Baseball Classic, becoming the first manager to win a World Series and a WBC championship.

Those are all facts about Leyland’s career, but here’s an opinion: No coach/manager in my lifetime was more popular in Pittsburgh than Leyland. As popular as Chuck Tanner was as manager of the Pirates, he was never as “over” with the people as Leyland was. Speaking of Chucks, Chuck Noll, the four-time Super Bowl-winning head coach of the Steelers, wasn’t as popular as Leyland. Maybe because Noll wasn’t nearly as accessible and approachable, right? OK, then, explain Bill Cowher, a Pittsburgh native and the total opposite of Noll when it came to how he engaged with the community and with his players. Yes, The Chin was extremely popular with the locals–still is–but not even he could approach the love that Leyland garnered from the yinzers.

I can go on and on, naming coaches. Mike Tomlin. Bob Johnson. Dan Bylsma. Scotty Bowman. Mike Sullivan. None of them have ever or will ever touch Leyland’s popularity when he managed the Pirates from 1986 to 1996.

And the crazy part? Every single manager/coach I named won a championship in town, which was something Leyland could never accomplish as skipper of the Pirates.

Leyland, who never made it to the big leagues as a player, was named the Pirates manager in 1986 after several years managing in the Tigers farm system and four years as the White Sox third-base coach.

Managing the Bucs wasn’t an enviable endeavor in those days. The Pirates were coming off back-to-back last-place finishes and lost over 100 games in 1985. The organization was under new ownership after nearly relocating to a different city.

The Pirates finished in last place again in 1986, but things felt different. You could tell right away that Leyland was a fighter and would go to bat (figuratively) for his players. Maybe that’s why Leyland’s players also loved him.

I remember when news broke that Tony Pena, the Pirates’ best player throughout those god-awful years in the mid-’80s, was traded during Spring Training in 1987. Pena was emotional as he talked to the press, and Leyland was right there to comfort him.

You could see the pieces falling into place in ’87. The Pena trade brought outfielder Andy Van Slyke and catcher Mike Lavalliere into the fold, and they were joining a core that included Barry Bonds, Bobby Bonilla and Doug Drabek.

These young Bucs rallied late in the ’87 campaign to finish in a tie for fourth place and celebrated as if they had won the World Series.

Late in the 1988 season, after the Pirates had clinched second place in the National League Eastern Division, Leyland shed a few tears while talking to the press. He was emotional about the progress his team had made in just a few years. Can you imagine how a manager shedding tears of joy over his team finishing in second place would go over today (wildcards didn’t exist then)? I can tell you that it wouldn’t go over well–especially on social media–but it was a different time back then, and Leyland was a different kind of cat. Actually, he was so authentic that he’d probably cry under similar circumstances today and tell you that he didn’t give a damn what you thought.

Leyland cried again in 1990 when he led the Pirates to their first NL East title in 11 years. His players, led by Bonds, carried him out of Busch Stadium on their shoulders, like a football coach. Bonds, one of the most polarizing figures in the history of baseball, has said he would run through a brick wall for Leyland.

That’s a special kind of manager. Maybe that’s why Leyland was able to convince someone like Jay Bell, a talented shortstop for the Pirates during their three-year reign atop the NL East in the early-’90s, to do things like sacrifice bunt in the first innings of games. How often has that happened in baseball before or since? Not often, but Leyland got Bell to make that sacrifice regularly (both figuratively and literally).

What made Leyland special during his time with the Pirates was how he included every single player on his roster. It didn’t matter if you were Bonds or Curtis Wilkerson, a little-used utility player for the Pirates in 1991, you were going to contribute in some way. Perhaps that’s why Wilkerson was able to hit a walk-off grand slam against legendary closer Lee Smith to defeat the Cardinals late in the season. 

Leyland’s greatest strength as a manager was how he utilized his pitching staff, particularly his bullpen. Outside of Drabek, who won the Cy Young in 1990, the Pirates never boasted an All-Star-ladened pitching staff while capturing division titles in 1990, 1991 and 1992, but it was always among the best in the game.

Leyland was a master at pitching matchups when it came to using his relievers, and he always had a seventh-inning guy, a setup guy and a closer. None of them were All-Stars, but they always got the job done.

Back to Leyland’s popularity. You know who always got the loudest ovation at the Home Opener at old Three Rivers Stadium every year? It wasn’t Bonds, who won the NL MVP in both 1990 and 1992. It wasn’t Van Slyke. It was Leyland.

Baseball began to change in the early-’90s, and the skyrocketing player salaries made it harder for teams like the Pirates to compete. Leyland eventually had enough and left Pittsburgh to manage the Marlins in ’97. Yes, Florida won the World Series, but the team quickly sold off most of its major assets and finished in last place in 1998.

Leyland managed the Rockies in 1999 before taking on a lower profile and becoming a scout for several years.

Leyland resurfaced with the Tigers in ’06 and had another great run with them.

Leyland was such a talented manager and so good with his players that you wonder what he may have been able to do had he been hired by the Yankees, Dodgers or any such team where spending was never really an issue.

Having said that, finishing your career as the 18th-winningest manager of all time isn’t so bad.

Back to the original premise of this article:

Sometime in the late-’00s, right after Leyland had taken over as manager of the Tigers, he was being interviewed about those early-’90s Pirates teams that never quite got over the hump. Despite averaging 96 wins and winning three-straight division titles, Pittsburgh never even made it to a World Series. The worst loss in franchise history came in Game 7 of the 1992 NLCS vs. the Braves in Atlanta. The Pirates were up 2-0 going into the bottom of the ninth but ultimately lost a heartbreaker with Sid Bream, a former Pirates player, sliding home with the game-winning run with two outs.

Everyone was devastated in that clubhouse, but Leyland, the man who was always prone to shedding a tear or two, was composed as he addressed his team and later the media.

Of course, he got emotional many years later as he talked about that disappointing day.

Leyland had captured two pennants and a World Series by the time he did this interview in 2007 or 2008, but you could tell that it still bothered him that he could never bring the City of Pittsburgh a title.

Leyland’s players always said he was a great communicator. Yes, sometimes, Leyland’s way of getting his point across was to scream, swear and destroy the post-game spread, but his guys always knew where they stood with him.

The fans always knew where he stood, too.

Leyland, who captured the majority of his career wins with the Pirates–851–has said that he does not know which hat will be displayed on his plaque in Cooperstown. He said he may just go in with a blank cap, and that he doesn’t want to disrespect any of the teams that he managed.

That’s noble. That’s Leyland.

I’ll bet he was also extremely popular in Detroit, where he managed for eight seasons and finished with 700 wins. I’m sure players on every team he managed will tell you how much he meant to them.

However, Leyland could have lived anywhere after his baseball career, but he decided to call Pittsburgh home. He met his wife while working for the Pirates. In addition to Giant Eagle, I also see him at the gym from time to time. Pittsburgh is where Leyland got his start as a manager, and you can tell he loves Pittsburgh as much as Pittsburgh loves him.

Jim Leyland will always be Pittsburgh’s favorite manager.