7 minute read
Swinging for the Stars
Jim Leyland's Journey to the Hall of Fame
BY ELISHA VALLADARES-CORMIER
Jim Leyland’s baseball career started on the sandlots of Perrysburg more than 70 years ago. After a 50 year career, primarily as a manager for the Pittsburgh Pirates, FloridaMarlins (winning the World Series there in 1997), Colorado Rockies and Detroit Tigers, Leyland reached the sport’s summit when he was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame on July 21, 2024. A lifelong Catholic, Leyland spoke with Graceful Living about growing up in northwest Ohio and how his faith and family formed him.Jim Leyland’s baseball career started on the sandlots of Perrysburg more than 70 years ago. After a 50 year career, primarily as a manager for the Pittsburgh Pirates, FloridaMarlins (winning the World Series there in 1997), Colorado Rockies and Detroit Tigers, Leyland reached the sport’s summit when he was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame on July 21, 2024. A lifelong Catholic, Leyland spoke with Graceful Living about growing up in northwest Ohio and how his faith and family formed him.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Q Jim, you called Perrysburg “a jewel of a town” in your Hall of Fame induction speech. What was it like growing up there?
A. Well, it’s certainly grown a lot since I grew up here — I think it was about one square mile back then. But it was one of those warm communities with a bunch of good, hardworking people; a very proud little community. Everybody knew everybody and you were friends with just about everybody. Dad worked at the local glass factory and Mom took care of me and my six siblings. Growing up in a big family meant learning how to interact with lots of different personalities, which was a great learning experience I’d draw on as a manager. I’d have ballplayers of all different personalities and temperaments, and having so many siblings taught me how to communicate with them as individuals and observe how they’d react to different situations.
Q. Your family must have been pretty involved at St. Rose Parish and School, then.
A. Certainly. Dad was an usher and a member of the Holy Name Society and Mom was very involved in the ladies groups. My brothers and I were altar servers, too. The Ursuline Sisters educated us at St. Rose, which included Sister Jean Marie teaching me to play trumpet. My first baseball team was sponsored by the Knights of Columbus at St. Rose Parish, and we’d play teams from all the other local parishes, like Little Flower Parish in Toledo.
Around the time I was preparing for First Communion, I had a penchant for getting bumps and bruises all over so my parents were trying to make sure I got through it without having a Band-Aid somewhere. Of course, I decided to ride the handlebars of my brother Tom’s bike sometime before that important day. He hit a bump going across railroad tracks and I fell, cutting my head open. It’s funny now, but I had to wear a big patch over my eyes for the big day, so Mom was furious!
Q. Tom later became a priest, serving the Diocese of Toledo for more than 55 years, and you also had two aunts who were Ursulines. How did their witness affect you?
A. Their dedication to the communities they served and their decision to give up their lives in service to others spoke volumes. Tom was a great priest for a long, long time, and my aunts were wonderful teachers. But at the same time, we just saw them as members of our family — and it was a great family to be a part of.
Q. What has been the role of your Catholic faith in your life?
A. I was born, raised and remain Catholic. I believe in God and my faith. I don’t discuss my faith publicly much — I want to respect the faith traditions of others — but I’ve been able to share it with some people throughout my baseball career, like Rich Donnelly, my good friend who spent 14 seasons with me as a big league coach. Like everyone else, I’m not a saint, but I’m a strong believer in what I believe and I try to do my best to act that out.
Q. Have you found any connections between your Catholic faith and your career in baseball?
A. Well, I’ve learned you can’t pray for wins — after all, I know the other team might do the same thing, so who wins? There’s some superstition in baseball, obviously, that people have; I’m sure I have some too, like using the same pen to make out the lineup card and stuff like that. But, you know, I was smart enough to know that God helps the other team too.
One of the greatest witnesses of forgiveness and mercy I’ve seen was on a baseball field. I was managing the Tigers in 2010 when Armando Galarraga, one of our starting pitchers, came one out away from throwing a perfect game — 27 batters up, 27 down, probably the greatest individual performance a pitcher can have. But the 27th batter, who should have been the final out, was called safe by umpire Jim Joyce on a close play at first base, even though replay showed he was out. There was no way to change the call, and a special place in history was taken away from Armando.
The next day, Armando presented Jim with our lineup card, which isn’t something he would usually do. We talk a lot in faith about forgiveness. Jim knew he made a mistake, and Armando forgave him. That gesture warmed a lot of hearts and diffused what could have been a really tense situation.
Q. What’s life been like since you learned of your election to the Hall of Fame in December 2023?
A. It’s certainly been hectic: a lot of traveling, interviews, etc. But it’s a good hectic. Earlier this year, Perrysburg Schools invited me out for Homecoming Weekend, and the mayor gave me the key to the city. In our business, you travel to lots of places and meet lots of people, but being recognized in your hometown is quite a thrill. It’s not the city that makes Perrysburg good, it’s the people in the city.
