Former Pirates skipper Leyland inducted into HOF

By Trib Total Media

COOPERSTOWN, N.Y. — Jim Leyland said there was something special about all four of the organizations he managed during his Hall of Fame career — the Pittsburgh Pirates, Florida Marlins, Colorado Rockies and Detroit Tigers.

The Pirates gave the longtime minor-league coach his first chance to manage, and what followed was 11 seasons in Pittsburgh that had plenty of highs and lows for the emotional manager.

“My contributions to our beautiful pastime pale in comparison to the joy it has brought to my life,” he said during his Baseball Hall of Fame induction speech Sunday. “From the heart of a little boy and the soul of an old man.”

Leyland, a “master strategist and motivator who galvanized youngsters and veterans,” according to his hall of fame plaque, was quick to cite the relationship with Pirates fans as something he won’t forget, getting choked up as he said: “I never felt like manager and fans in Pittsburgh. It felt more like manager and friends. I know we made you happy. And I know we broke your heart. But I always felt like we were in it together.”

Leyland thanked his family in the front row — wife, Katie, son, Patrick and daughter, Kelly — and also mentioned several former Pirates in attendance for his day in the spotlight — Bob Walk, John Wehner, Andy Van Slyke, Barry Bonds, Bobby Bonilla, Jay Bell and Doug Drabek.

“I’d love to mention everybody, but I just can’t,” said Leyland, a “baseball lifer” who was decked out in a blue suite and multi-colored tie.

Leyland was elected by the Contemporary Baseball Era Committee. He managed for 22 seasons — including with the Pirates from 1986-96 — won three Manager of the Year awards, the 1997 World Series, had a 1,769-1,728 career record as a manager and was the manager of the U.S. Olympic team in 2017 when the Americans won their only World Baseball Classic.

Leyland made sure to acknowledge the importance of the fans to the game of baseball.

“No matter which Hall of Famer you’re here to support today, or which team you cheer for, your presence is always felt,” Leyland said. “On your feet in the ninth with the home team clinging to a one-run lead, turning on your television for the first game in the World Series and seeing 50,000 fans hoping and praying that this may be their year, or a little boy or girl getting their first autograph scurrying back to the stands to show mom and dad what they just did. Ladies and gentlemen, that’s you. That’s baseball. And this is the Hall of Fame.”

Leyland was joined in the 2024 class by Adrian Beltre, Joe Mauer and Todd Helton, who were pegged as athletic phenoms from a young age. All three lived up to expectations with their induction.

The Los Angeles Dodgers were so sold on Beltre early on that they broke MLB rules to sign him before he turned 16.

Beltre reached the big leagues just after his 19th birthday and quickly was considered one of the best prospects in sports as a teenager.

In Beltre’s induction speech, he said he played for his first team at the age of 13 and was a second baseman because his dad told him that’s the position he should play.

After a teammate asked him to switch and play third base, Beltre obliged and the decision paid off.

Beltre played 21 years for the Dodgers, Seattle Mariners, Boston Red Sox and Texas Rangers. He became a five-time Gold Glove winner and is the first third baseman with at least 450 home runs and 3,000 hits.

During his playing days, Beltre made it clear that he did not like anyone touching his head so of course, his teammates ignored the request and made a habit of touching his head anyways. At Sunday’s ceremony, fellow Hall of Famer David Ortiz continued the tradition by touching Beltre’s head prior to his speech.

“That never relaxes me,” Beltre said with a laugh. “(But) it was a little cute to go back to my playing days. … It’s just part of being in this fraternity. even though I don’t love it, I don’t like it, but it felt like I’m open to people to be able to play around with me. I always like that.”

Mauer was a high school phenom in football and baseball in St. Paul, Minn., and was named USA Today’s High School Player of the Year in football in 2000 and baseball in 2001.

He was drafted by his hometown Twins with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2001 MLB Draft.

“It was truly an honor to be a (Minnesota Twin) and represent my hometown team,” Mauer said.

The future six-time All-Star catcher spent just three years in the minors before spending all 15 years of his bigleague career with the Twins.

Mauer finished his career with one MVP award and three batting titles and is the only catcher in history with at least 2,000 hits, a .300 batting average and a .380 onbase percentage.

Mauer noted the emotion he felt seeing all the Minnesota fans throughout the weekend.

“It’s not easy to get to Cooperstown and especially with the events that have happened this last week,” he said. “But to see that many Twins fans out there, I just felt the love and I was just hoping that I could deliver the speech that I wrote down.”

Helton was also a football and baseball star and played both sports at the University of Tennessee.

Despite his dominance in both sports at an early age, Helton never felt comfortable in the spotlight or felt like a Hall of Famer.

“Those of you who know me know I’d be more comfortable doing anything other than standing up here talking about myself,” Helton said to open his speech. “I’m just a ball player, and anyone in the media can attest to that fact.”

Helton’s claim to fame could have been that he was the quarterback at Tennessee between future first-round draft picks Heath Shuler and Peyton Manning, but he was destined for bigger things on the baseball diamond.

After a knee injury in 1994 paved the way for Manning to become Tennessee’s quarterback, Helton shifted all of his focus to baseball where he was named the winner of the Dick Howser Award by the American Baseball Coaches Association and named Player of the Year by Baseball America.

Helton was selected by the Colorado Rockies with the No. 8 overall pick in the 1995 amateur draft and never left the Mile High City.

After becoming the starting first baseman in 1995, Helton finished second in the NL Rookie of the Year voting and posted a .315 batting average with 25 home runs and 97 RBIs.

He went on to become one of just three players to record multiple seasons with 100plus extra-base hits in his career and helped the Rockies reach the 2007 World Series.

While Helton began the weekend feeling out of place, the second Rockies Hall of Famer knows he is where he belongs now.

“Just standing back there waiting to go up onto the stage, the guys were so kind, but they all came by and offered me advice,” Helton said. “For me, that was the beginning of feeling that I belong. But we have a players- only dinner tonight, and I’ll probably feel like I belong after that.” Beltre led this year’s class with 95.1% of the Baseball Writers’ Association of America vote in his first year on the ballot. Helton followed with 79.7% of the vote in his sixth year of eligibility, and Mauer received 76.1% of the BBWAA vote in his first year.

Other players included on this year’s ballot who fell short of the 75% threshold were Billy Wagner (73.8%), Gary Sheffield (63.9%), Andruw Jones (61.6%), Carlos Beltran (57.1%), Alex Rodriguez (34.8%), Manny Ramirez (32.5%), Chase Utley (28.8%), Omar Vizquel (17.7%), Bobby Abreu (14.8%), Jimmy Rollins (14.8%), Andy Pettitte (13.5%), Mark Buehrle (8.3%), Francisco Rodriguez (7.8%), Torii Hunter (7.3%), David Wright (6.2%), Jose Bautista (1.6%), Victor Martinez (1.6%), Bartolo Colon (1.3%), Matt Holliday (1%), Adrian Gonzalez (0.8%), Brandon Phillips (0.3%), Jose Reyes (0%) and James Shields (0%).

Sheffield was on the ballot for the 10th time without reaching the 75% mark and is no longer eligible for BBWAA consideration. Bautista, Martinez, Colon, Holliday, Gonzalez, Phillips, Reyes and Shields did not receive the minimum requirement of 5% of the vote and are also no longer eligible for BBWAA consideration.

Joe Castiglione and Gerry Fraley also were honored during Hall of Fame weekend. Castiglione has been the Boston Red Sox radio broadcaster for a record 42 seasons and received the Ford C. Frick Award. Fraley was honored posthumously with the BBWAA Career excellence Award for his work as a writer. During his career, Fraley covered the Philadelphia Phillies, Atlanta Braves and Texas Rangers and worked as the national baseball writer for the Dallas Morning News.