In ALDS, Leyland's message comes through loud and clear

DETROIT -- When Jim Leyland speaks, people listen. Right now, nobody knows that better than the group in the Detroit Tigers clubhouse, though in as revealing a season as we've seen in years, a whole lot of other folks are catching on as well.

So probably 45 minutes into as wild a champagne celebration as you'll see -- the Tigers joyfully sprayed each other in the clubhouse, their fans from atop the dugout, their wives and kids in the hallway just outside the family room -- when Leyland shuffled into the clubhouse and started hollering out a message to his players, it was like Moses parting the Red Sea.

At the start of the season, few thought Jim Leyland would be sipping champagne in October. (Getty Images)

Leyland got a few words out, somebody delivered a shrill whistle that immediately silenced everybody and the manager continued. By now the wives, kids and other family members were inside and fueling the raging celebration.

"I know now that you know what I meant when I wrote that letter to you at the beginning of the season," Leyland told them. "I doubt that any of you read it.

"If you didn't read it, read it tonight when you go home."

The Tigers had just bloodied the New York Yankees 8-3, delivering more humiliation to baseball's richest team and ...

... wait.

That's it? They beat the Yankees? In four games?

It's over?

"They pretty much kicked our ass," New York icon/target Alex Rodriguez said. "They pretty much dominated us in every phase of the game.

"That's the most frustrating part."

Depends on your perspective. From the olde English D's angle, it was the most impressive part. Gosh, yes. A franchise that lost 119 games just three years ago reversed itself at warp speed, and what a sight it is.

Though he is too modest to ever admit it, this has been the most skilled craftsmanship of Leyland's storied career. And we're talking about a man who managed Pittsburgh to three division titles in the early 1990s and Florida to a World Series title in 1997.