The Detroit Tigers and Chicago White Sox are locked in a battle for MLB's AL Central Division. The White Sox boast a 76-64 record and sit three games ahead of the Tigers (73-67). Few expected Chicago to be where they're at right now, and those that did probably had some inside knowledge on Robin Ventura, the rookie manager for the team.
He's been doing a great job getting Chicago into contending shape. In fact, he's doing such a good job that he's earning some praise from guys who have been in the league for a very long time. That includes Jim Leyland, current manager of the Tigers, a man with 21 years of experience at the manager level.
J.J. Stankevitz of CSN Chicago had some quotes from Leyland regarding Ventura:
"Like they say in football, some guys have a nose for the football. Some guys have a nose for managing. I think he does, I think he's done a great job, a terrific job," Leyland said. "I don't know this, but I think he's kind of let them play, just play the game, just go play the game. He's not pushing. He's figured it out pretty quick, really. And it helps when you got good players."
Leyland also joked "I'm jealous, because so far he's made it look easy." Even things said somewhat jokingly like that should be held in high regard, on top of the quote above. Leyland is a World Series-winning manager, with two pennants to his name on top of that. Even if his team currently trails in the AL Central (and can still win it at just three games back), his praise should be highly regarded by Ventura and the White Sox.
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