No joke, Jim Leyland became Pirates manager after surprisingly legit phone call that started his journey to the Hall of Fame

Jim Leyland was convinced the phone call that led to his first major-league managerial job — his initial step on the road to Cooperstown — was a joke.

Not that he doubted his ability to manage in the majors. After all, he had been a minor-league manager for 11 seasons, winning three league championships. And he was nearly hired as the manager of the Houston Astros, finishing second to Hal Lanier in 1985.

But Leyland’s brothers were well-known jokesters.

The call, legitimately, came from then-Pittsburgh Pirates general manager Syd Thrift, who was looking for a manager to replace Chuck Tanner not long after the Astros hired Lanier. Leyland decided not to fall for the gag.

“I actually thought it was one of my brothers kidding around,” Leyland said Wednesday on a conference call with reporters in advance of his induction July 21 into the National Baseball Hall of Fame. “They were always kidding me about being a bridesmaid, never getting a job. Always getting an interview but never get the job.”

The phone rang, and the voice introduced itself as Thrift.

Leyland answered, “This is Casey Stengel.”

Thrift quickly confirmed his identity, and that’s when Leyland, who was well-respected as the third-base coach of the Chicago White Sox, got serious.

“I told Syd, ‘If I’m a serious candidate, I want to come and interview for the job. But if I’m just going to be a newspaper article, I don’t want to do that.’ ”

Thrift was serious, too, the interview went well and Leyland got the job.

“I don’t think the president of the club (Carl Barger) was very impressed with me, but Syd was,” Leyland said. “Ironically, what happened after I got the job, the president and I ended up becoming the best of friends.”

Then, with pride in his voice, Leyland told reporters assembled on the zoom call Wednesday, “Nov. 20, 1985, I believe, I was named the 33rd manager of the Pittsburgh Pirates.”

Leyland, 79, managed the Pirates to three division championships in 11 seasons and was named National League Manager of the Year in 1990 and 1992. He went on to lead the Florida Marlins to the World Series title in 1996 and the Detroit Tigers to two American League pennants in 2006 (when he was AL Manager of the Year) and 2012, becoming one of eight managers to win championships in both leagues.

With the Pirates, he managed one of the franchise’s all-time great teams that included Barry Bonds, Bobby Bonilla and Andy Van Slyke.

“Each (player) was different, and I wanted to find out what made each one of them tick,” he said. “They all three had a lot of skills, but it wasn’t hard to get those guys on the same page. They were winners. They wanted to win.

“I did have a lot of conversations with those guys. Quite frankly, sometimes you have some tough conversations. It can cause for an awkward relationship for a day or two, but as long as you’re all on the same page and you’re all striving for the same thing, it all seems to work out.”

Leyland said the game has changed since his days as a manager in two specific ways: the way managers play their infield and pitch usage.

“They’re playing their infield in much more and much earlier (in a game) than they did in the older days,” he said. “The pitch usage has confused hitters a little bit more. In other words, 2-0, 3-1, 3-2 (counts) used to be a fastball count all the time. It’s no longer a fastball count. It’s made it much more difficult for hitters to hit.”

The players haven’t changed, he said.

“You know what? The players are the same to me,” said Leyland, who currently serves as a special assistant to Tigers general manager Jeff Greenberg. “I believe players love discipline. They seek it out. I think they want somebody to lead and have some type of direction. The great thing about it is the players are great guys.

“There’s been some changes, but the game will still remain the same.”

Before he became a coach and manager, Leyland dreamed of playing in the majors, but he never was more than a light-hitting minor-league catcher.

“I thought I was going to be a big leaguer. I didn’t really know,” he said. “At that time, I thought I was pretty good. When I got to spring training and saw all the competition, I realized this is probably not going to happen.”

He said Hall of Fame membership should be limited to players. “I kind of feel like I’m a tagalong,” he said.

But he’s excited for the week and its festivities, even though he’s a bit leery of the speech.

“Anxious, humbled obviously, a little nervous about the speech to be honest with you,” he said. “I’ve watched almost every Hall of Famer’s speech. A lot of them are emotional. I’m kind of an emotional guy. I hope I keep that to a minimum.

“I can’t wait for it to happen. I’m so excited and so thrilled and honored to be going in. I just want to make sure I talk to the fans, that I talk to the Hall of Famers. Awkward situation, to be honest with you, because you kind of have to talk about yourself. I’m not used to that. You do have to explain your journey.

“George Brett told me it’s a tough speech to give. George got a little emotional. But as long as it’s from the heart, it’s going to be fine.”