Tigers' Leyland Celebrates a Blackbird Great at LIU Brooklyn

Last Friday morning in LIU Brooklyn’s spacious Steinberg Wellness Center, Jim Leyland, manager of the Detroit Tigers baseball team and a World Series winning manager with the Florida Marlins, exhorted student athletes attending LIU’s inaugural Sports Leadership conference to “stand up for yourself and stand up for what’s right.”

Known for his no-nonsense approach to managing and playing the game, the Tiger’s skipper commented that “popular decisions are not always the best decision,” when it comes to sports and life. A 50-year veteran of major league baseball, with over 1,700 managerial wins and three pennants along with his 1997 world series triumph, Leyland advised young athletes to “enjoy these wonderful moments that you have, enjoy your teammates, and don’t put too much pressure on yourself” to succeed.

“Compete to win – there’s nothing wrong with that,” said Leyland, who quickly added, “make sure you go out and party on Friday night because all work and no play is no good!”

Responding to a question about the impact of performance enhancing drugs (PEDs) on major league baseball, where 11 players were recently suspended due to their association with Anthony Bosch and his Miami, FL anti-aging clinic, the three-time Manager of the Year award winner was blunt. “In all walks of life, people—whether they are business people, doctors, lawyers, or whomever they may be—people try to get an edge,” said Leyland. “Sports is no different. Just make sure it’s legal.”

With the Central Division-leading Tigers in town for an interleague series with the New York Mets, Leyland and Gene Lamont, the Tigers’ bench coach, accepted an invitation to come to Brooklyn from Eugene Spatz, a former teammate in the Tigers’ minor league system and now director of LIU Brooklyn’s Sports Science department.

In addition to Leyland and Lamont, the luncheon honored George Kalafatis, cited by Greg Fox, LIU Brooklyn Associate Director of Athletics, as the greatest player in LIU baseball history. In attendance with Kalafatis’ minor league teammates Leyland, Lamont and Spatz were his wife Fran and daughter Lara. A 1965 graduate of LIU, Kalafatis passed away suddenly in 1995 at the age of 50, leaving behind a young family as well as a legacy as an accomplished athlete and barrier-breaking sports agent.

While playing in the Tiger’s minor league system, Kalafatis accomplished what Leyland called “perhaps the greatest feat I’ve ever seen in professional baseball.” On July 1, 1969 Kalafatis slugged four home runs as well as a double, accounting for 18 total bases in leading the Montgomery Rebels to a 13-0 win over the Birmingham A's and a young Vida Blue.

Despite accomplished hitting and fielding skills, Kalafatis, a first baseman, never played in the major leagues, a disappointment which accounted for his success as one of the first of a new breed of player agents. According to Fran Kalafatis, in 1973 while playing for the Peninsula Whips of the Montreal Expos farm system, her husband made the unusual decision to attend law school so as to help young men and women succeed where he had failed.

“George did not put all his eggs in one basket,” said Mrs. Kalafatis. “He was smart enough to look beyond his playing career, so his LIU education was invaluable.”

In addition to LIU Brooklyn athletes, coaches and administrators, the event - sponsored by the LIU Brooklyn Division of Athletic Training, Health and Exercise Science (ATHES) as well as the LIU Brooklyn Athletics Department – included representatives from local universities and community organizations.

Barclays Center, the Brooklyn Cyclones, St. Francis College, Brooklyn, St. Josephs College of New York, Pratt Institute, William Patterson College, the Harlem RBI program and the New York chapter of the Special Olympics were all on hand to celebrate the life and accomplishments of George Kalafatis.

Leyland, who played with Kalafatis in the 60’s and only knew about LIU through his one-time teammate, concluded: “I am a great fan of George Kalafatis and now I’m a fan of LIU Brooklyn.