Jim Leyland Stepping Down As Tigers Manager
By Ashley Dunkak
@AshleyDunkak
COMERICA PARK (CBS DETROIT) - MLB Network insider Ken Rosenthal is reporting that Jim Leyland is retiring from his post as Detroit Tigers manager. The news comes in the wake of a heartbreaking ALCS loss to the Boston Red Sox; the team has scheduled a press conference for 11:30 a.m. EST.
According to Rosenthal, Leyland, 68, told the team earlier and feels he is getting too old for the job.
Sources: Leyland stepping down as #Tigers manager. Told team after end of ALCS. Team has called news conference for 11:30 AM ET.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) October 21, 2013
Told that Leyland informed #Tigers players after end of ALCS that it was time for someone younger to do the job. He is 68.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) October 21, 2013
Leyland finished his eighth season with the Tigers this season. He started the job in 2006, and Detroit went to the World Series and lost four games to one. The next four years the Tigers missed the postseason, but in the past three seasons they have advanced to at least the ALCS. In 2011 they lost in the championship round four games to two, the same result as 2013. In 2012 Detroit made the World Series but got swept by the San Francisco Giants.
With one of the highest payrolls in baseball, the Tigers were World Series favorites throughout most of the 2013 season, and "World Series or bust" was a phrase bandied about on a regular basis.
Before Leyland's arrival in 2006, the Tigers had missed the postseason 18 straight years.