"Jim Leyland hasn't forgotten. Not for one minute.

He remembers the tough times with pride, those days when he made $400 a month in the minor leagues. When he borrowed cash from his brothers to buy gas for the drive to spring training. When he worked in the off-season in the same glass factory where his father labored to make the money that fed seven kids.

Maybe that's why he feels the connection so strongly with those Detroiters who follow the Tigers with their hearts but can't afford the seats behind home plate."