Detroit Tigers Manager Jim Leyland Autographed Baseball.  Named the 36th manager in Tigers history on October 4, 2005...a veteran of 45 years in professional baseball, he returns to the organization that originally signed him as a catcher on September 21, 1963...Tabbed the American League Manager of the Year by both the BBWAA and The Sporting News in 2006 after guiding the Tigers to the franchises first playoff berth since 1987 -- joined Sparky Anderson (1984, 1987) as the only other club manager to garner the award from the BBWAA...selected the Major League Manager of the Year by Baseball America...Joined the American Leagues All-Star squad as a coach for the final All-Star Game at Yankee Stadium in 2008, his fifth appearance (twice as the manager, three times as a coach) at the All-Star Game...Served as the American Leagues manager at the 78th Major League Baseball All-Star Game at AT&T Park in San Francisco in 2007 -- served as the National Leagues manager at the 69th Major League Baseball All-Star Game at Coors Field in Colorado in 1998...served as a coach for the National League squad in both 1991 and 1994 while managing the Pirates...Named the best manager in the American League by Baseball America in both 2006 and 2007...tabbed the third-best manager in the league by the publication in 2008...Prior to his appointment as the Tigers manager, he served for six seasons (2000-05) as a major league scout for the St. Louis Cardinals -- scouted National League clubs from PNC Park and American League clubs from Jacobs Field...Previously served 14 seasons as a manager at the major league level with the Pittsburgh Pirates (1986-96), Florida Marlins (1997-98) and Colorado Rockies (1999)...Won three straight National League East Division championships with the Pirates (1990-92)...advanced to the postseason with the Marlins as the National Leagues wild card winner in 1997 -- advanced past San Francisco and Atlanta in the playoffs to defeat Cleveland to claim the World Series title...Named the National League Manager of the Year by the BBWAA twice during his career, 1990 and 1992...earned the same honor from The Sporting News three times during his career, 1988, 1990 and 1992...Earned his 1,000th career win as a major league manager on April 15, 1999, as the Rockies defeated San Diego 6-4 at Coors Field...Served as Tony LaRussas third base coach for four seasons (1982-85) with the Chicago White Sox before being named the 33rd manager in Pirates history on November 20, 1985...managed two games for the White Sox while LaRussa was suspended in 1985, winning the first game and losing the second...Managed for 11 seasons at the minor league level in the Tigers organization (1971-81), advancing to the post-season six times and claiming his respective league championship three times...Selected as the manager of the year in the Florida State League in both 1977-78 and in the American Association in 1979...Served as a coach for Rocky Mount in the first half of the 1971 season before receiving his first managerial experience with Bristol that same season...Spent six seasons as minor league catcher in the Tigers organization (1964-69) before serving as a coach at Montgomery in 1970 -- appeared in two games as a player with Montgomery in 1970...In recognition of his accomplishments in 1990, he won the Dapper Dan Man of the Year Award, an annual honor given to a Pittsburgh sports figure for outstanding achievement on a national level.