But Leyland soon thanked his lucky stars after Wakefield rose from failed minor league first baseman to impact rookie starter, winning a pair of games in the National League Championship Series and nearly leading the Pirates to the World Series.

Last night, Leyland and Wakefield were reunited, the pitcher facing his former manager's new team in Detroit. The Tigers skipper couldn't help but let his thoughts drift back to 1992.

"Everybody started jumping on the bandwagon for Tim Wakefield and we didn't even know who the hell Tim Wakefield was," Leyland said. "Eighteen different guys say they taught him the knuckleball, but I'll tell you who deserves all the credit: Woody Huyke. Tim wasn't hitting very good and Woody was his minor league manager. He saw him throw that knuckleball on the side and suggested he try pitching. The rest is history."

Wakefield went 8-1 for the Pirates and won Games 3 and 6 of the NLCS against the Atlanta Braves. There was a hue and cry for Leyland to start Wakefield in Game 7 on zero days' rest, but he went instead with ace Doug Drabek.

"Tim was so good, the Braves had Phil Niekro throwing them batting practice and it didn't matter," Leyland said. "That's how good he was. But the guy we started in Game 7 was pretty good, too."

Wakefield's meteoric rise was followed by an equally precipitous fall. He went 6-11 with a 5.61 ERA in 1993. The next year he was one of the worst pitchers in Triple A before being released by Pittsburgh in April 1995 and signed by the Red Sox later in the same month as a minor league free agent.

"For his own betterment, we let him go," Leyland said. "Obviously we made a mistake. . . . We weren't patient enough with him and we blew it."

Leyland remains a fan.

"I hope he wins another 100-something games," Leyland said. "I hope he pitches forever."