I’ll start this by saying I’m a huge Jim Leyland fan. I wish there were more managers and coaches like him; total no nonsense take no crap style. His style has worked with three out of the four teams he has coached (I totally forgot he was manager of Colorado, and I’m sure I’m not the only one who forgot that).
Even considering all my respect for Leyland for his baseball resume, I was even more impressed when I realized Jim Leyland’s wife Katie Leyland is a much, much younger woman, and that the couple has extremely young kids for a man his age, Patrick and Kellie. Katie met Jim when she took a job with the Pittsburgh Pirates right before finishing college. Jim, coming off a divorce, knew right away that he wanted to pursue Katie. Of course Katie says she played it off that she didn’t want to date him, but when a major league manager comes knocking on your door, you can’t turn that down.
After a year of dating, Jim and Katie married. Katie was 26 when she married Jim, who was 42. After an unfortunate miscarriage Patrick and Kellie were born. The family for the most part was raised in Pittsburgh even though Jim was managing in different cities. Now that Patrick and Kellie are older (Kellie in college, and Patrick having previously worked with the Tigers) the family situation is a little easier on Jim and Katie. With Detroit making a run it wouldn’t shock us if he wins the World Series he calls it quits. I mean he is after all 67 years old and at that age going out on top has to be something he is thinking about.
