Leyland Ponders Retirement

September 1, 1999 / 10:20 PM EDT / CBS/AP

Colorado Rockies manager Jim Leyland, disappointed with the performance of his team, is considering retiring as a baseball manager, according to a Denver newspaper.

Leyland said after 35 years in professional baseball, he no longer is certain he has the fire in the belly necessary to lead a major league team.

Leyland told The Denver Post he has held recent, serious discussions with Rockies owner Jerry McMorris about stepping down as manager next month, after his first season on the job in Colorado and after being recruited by the Detroit Tigers.

"I'm seriously considering retiring from managing," Leyland said Wednesday, before a 9-8 loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates.

He refused to discuss the situation after the game.

Less than 12 months after he signed a three-year, $6 million contract with Colorado, many of his friends in the Rockies' organization now believe Leyland is leaning heavily toward retirement.

"It has nothing to do with having trouble communicating with the players. I love my players on this team. And, believe me, it has nothing to do with the ownership of this team. I love this ownership," Leyland said from his clubhouse office, during an exclusive interview with The Denver Post.

"My problem is simply a case of whether I have all the ingredients necessary to do everything it takes to do this job anymore. I just don't know. It's something I'm tossing and turning about every night. I just don't know."

The Rockies, who had high hopes of competing for a playoff spot this year, are in last place of the NL West.

"It has been disappointing," said Leyland, who takes full responsibility for an underachieving team.

General manager Bob Gebhard resigned under pressure Aug. 20.

"There comes a point in your life when you've got to decide what you really want to do with your life," said Leyland, who admits to missing his family while traveling during the season.

He also has asked McMorris if it would be possible for him to remain with the organization in a reduced role, with less responsibility and constraints on his time.

Although the Tigers and Los Angeles Dodgers both recruited him before Leyland joined the Rockies a year ago, he insisted his departure would indicate the end of a managerial career whose highlights have included more than 1,000 major league victories and a World Series championship with Florida in 1997.

"If I decide not to manage here in Colorado, I think that would be the end of it for me as a manager," Leyland said. "I can assure you, I won't be going anywhere else to manage."