Scorecard

The Marlins' Big Season
The Book on Leyland

After the Florida Marlins spent $89 million on free agents at the end of the 1996 season, writer Dave Rosenbaum arranged with them for full access during the '97 campaign so he could write a book about how the investment turned out. If They Don't Win It's a Shame: The Year the Marlins Bought the World Series, which is so full of rich detail that it rings with authority, is overrun with contemptible characters, from conniving owner Wayne Huizenga to crass pitcher Kevin Brown. No one, though, comes across as distastefully as manager Jim Leyland.

As the season unfolds and the pressure grows, Rosenbaum's Leyland (a far cry from the warn, grandfather character known to the public), withers before our eyes. Fueled by increasing doses of nicotine and caffeine and sailing along on a stream of vulgarity, he grows more gaunt and crude with every turn of the page. Leyland goes so overboard that at one point general manager Dave Dombrowski calls him into his office aid asks, "What's going on here, Jim?" That was after Leyland had shouted for a low-level employee to be fired and barked at Dombrowski, "If you want to manage the team, you manage the team. Here, you take the f——— lineup card."

Leyland's likability vanishes as he rips his players to reporters, usually in off-the-record sessions; claims that "the ruination of this country was the women's liberation movement"; asks a group of male reporters, "Which of you guys have fooled around with [a female writer on the beat]?"; plays me horses with such verve that he dispatches a clubhouse attendant to place his bets at a nearby track; aid generally snaps at players, reporters and clubhouse employees faster than a bowl of Rice Krispies. When a reporter explains mat fans want to know why outfielder Gary Sheffield isn't in the lineup, Leyland erupts with "The last thing I care about is the f——— fans."

Writes Rosenbaum, "During the post-season, the national media never heard Leyland berating reporters or cursing a blue streak or speaking negatively—off the record, of course—about his players. They had never heard him dressing down front office workers, nor had they witnessed all of his moods. That's because Leyland had no trouble controlling his behavior for fifteen-minute World Series press conferences.... It was over the long haul that the crass, temperamental Leyland came out."

By World Series time, Leyland has walking pneumonia, and you're no longer wishing for him to get the ling. You're rooting for him to fix himself some chicken soup, go home to bed and keep his foul mouth shut.

Cowboys' New Coach
Mr. Gailey Goes To Dallas

Before Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones chose Chan Gailey as his new coach, he wasted five weeks interviewing candidates who didn't begin to satisfy his purported desire for a hungry, low-paid, small-ego offensive specialist. He courted former San Francisco 49ers coach George Seifert, a defensive type who wanted at least $2 million a year to reenter the coaching arena. He also talked to Green Bay offensive coordinator Sherm Lewis, who didn't fill Jones's wish for a candidate with play-calling experience and a resume that included a stint as a head coach. Jones was most fervid in his pursuit of former UCLA coach Terry Donahue, but Donahue walked away from the deal when Jones proffered a contract worth about $500,000 a year, a sum that would have made Donahue the lowest-paid coach in the NFL.

Fortunately for Jones and the Cowboys, Gailey, who reportedly went for the $500,000 a season for five years, might be the right man for a difficult job. Gailey, a head coach at Troy (Ala.) State, at Samford and with the World League's Birmingham Fire, will be working for an owner who insists on the final say on personnel and scouting matters and who often insinuates himself into strategy sessions.

Gailey, 46, seems like a guy who can handle that. He's a man of small ego and large organizational skills. He won't care about Jones's taking credit on draft day for the top pick; he will care about guys being 10 seconds late for meetings. As someone who has run the conservative wishbone in college and radical five-wideout schemes during his four seasons as an NFL offensive coordinator, most recently with the Pittsburgh Steelers, Gailey has always fit his offense to the talent available.