If you didn't catch it in yesterday's Freep, Krista Jahnke got Tigers manager Jim Leyland to pull back the grumpy curtain and open up a bit.
"Everyone thinks I'm a grumpy old man," he said, one leg kicked up on his desk. "That's fine. But I like to have a good time."
What does that "good time" include? Leyland is a crooner. And he doesn't care if you know, because he knows he's good. Off the record, with the office door closed, he showed off his pipes for Jahnke.
For me, he closed his door, cranked up his iPod and sang along with Elton John's "Something about the Way You Look Tonight," a few lines of Queen's "We Are the Champions," Toby Keith's "Unleashed" and "Just Once" by Quincy Jones/James Ingram, his all-time favorite.
You know Tom Gage is totally jealous. Four years into covering him, and do you think Leyland's ever busted out some James Ingram for the Tigers beat reporters? Well, maybe he has. But not on the record.
If you want a sample of Leyland carrying a tune, the Freep has video from the Tigers' visit to the Motown Museum back in January.
(via The Daily Fungo)