Eye of the Tigers: The Return of Jim Leyland

Forty-eight days ago Jim Leyland was angry, very angry. His Tigers had just lost a 10-2 game to the Cleveland Indians; however, unlike previous Tiger managers Jim Leyland let his players know about it. Leyland went off on the media, unleashing a savage rant against the Tigers' lack of effort and lambasted the players for not caring whether they win or lose. Clearly, Jim Leyland was not willing to accept the defeat that has plagued the Tigers' franchise for the last 19 years. Perhaps the most surprising aspect of Leyland's rant was the way the players' responded, by winning. At the time of Leyland's rant the Tigers were a mediocore 7-6, since then the Tigers have gone 28-13 and now hold the best record in the Major League Baseball.