Jim Leyland: Old school or new school?

NEW YORK -- Jim Leyland might be 61, but please, don't suggest he could be "old school."

     Someone mentioned to Leyland before Wednesday night's game that he seemed to be "connecting with today's younger players," and went on to make the assumption that "old school seems to be a little bit more in vogue now."

     He didn't exactly call Leyland "old school," but that didn't stop Leyland from wondering aloud what it means to be an old dude in a young man's game.

     "When you talk about old school, I'm not really sure what that means," Leyland said.

     "I'm old, but I don't know that I'm 'old school.' I'm pretty young at heart with these guys, and I think I have a pretty good rapport with them. Basically I think that my job is a common sense job. You try to get along with people, and you try to get them in the right position to be successful, and I'm having a lot of fun with them.

     "I just think that my players probably look at me as old, to be honest with you, but they think I've got some spirit and a little character in me and I think we've had a good time together. Like I said, baseball is a common-sense thing. I'm not sure it's 'old school' or 'new school.'"

     By BILL McGRAW