May 1 not only marks the death of “April in the D,” but also puts into action the statewide law that bans smoking in public places, including Comerica Park. And at Comerica Park, it affects nobody more than Tigers’ skipper, Jim Leyland, who smokes as much as Adam Everett doesn’t hit.
Leyland says he will abide by the law, but you have to wonder how he really feels about it. Surely, his lungs will forgive him, but Leyland’s patience probably won’t. Pitchers will most likely be on shorter leashes, helmet racks and water coolers will probably look more breakable, and Gerald Laird’s face will become increasingly more annoying.
Also, if things aren’t going well for his team at the CoPa, expect him to get into more ‘convenient’ conversations with the umpires. After all, the cigar bar in the stadium does allow smoking of cigars (I know, crazy, right?).
“Cigars are legal in that cigar bar,” he said, “but it’s hard to go down there in the sixth inning.”
Unless you get ejected, Jim. Unless you get ejected…
Anyway, until 6 AM rolls around, when the ban officially becomes effective, Leyland can most likely be found in his Comerica Park office, inhaling as many c-sticks as he can:
“I’ve got till 6 a.m. It might be two cartons. I don’t know.”
Meanwhile, I’ll ship the skip some cartons of chewing tobacco. Red Man is the way to go.
**Added anecdote – this ban hurts ticket sales, too, if you ask me – those designated smoking areas get pretty crowded during summer games, so I can’t imagine those people being too happy about the public smoking ban. I guess we’ll find out who values their Tigers more than their buzz.
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