Detroit Tigers have their official sign of spring

The harbingers of spring are upon us. The snow is melting and rivers are flowing high. Birds are signing. Leaves are starting to bud. Baseball is back and spring training games are beginning once again. But it is not officially spring for the Detroit Tigers until a certain scent is on the breeze.

That moment came on Friday. Jim Leyland was sighted in the parking lot at spring training, puffing away on his ever-present cigarette. A message was carried on those clouds of smoke with the smell of tobacco – spring, and baseball, are back.

Former Detroit Tigers manager Jim Leyland brings the scents of spring with him

There were times when it was impossible to see Leyland in the dugout without a smoke. He puffed away during his various managerial stops, his time in the dugout coming to an end with the Tigers in 2013 after winning the AL Central.

Leyland was a solid manager in during his career. He guided his teams to the postseason eight times, winning the division in six of those years. He captured two AL pennants and an NL pennant, winning the World Series with the upstart Marlins in 1997. Overall, he posted a 1769-1728 record over his 22 years in the dugout.

Despite all of his success, and the different teams he was a part of, Leyland is essentially synonymous with that cigarette. Even when smoking was banned in the ballpark, he never made an attempt to hide his desire for a smoke, lighting up on the bench when the desire seized him. Why would it be a surprise that he would have a cigarette lit up in the parking lot?

It is officially spring for the Detroit Tigers. Jim Leyland has been sighted in the parking lot, the smell of his ever-present cigarette drifting on the breeze.