Beginning in 2006, when Jim Leyland was hired to manage the Tigers, his son Patrick, then 14, began hanging around the clubhouse, sometimes kibitzing and playing catch with the players, sometimes taking batting practice with his dad on the mound.
    It was a dream come true for the kid.
    Last year, father and son were both excited when the University of Maryland offered Patrick, then a high school senior, a scholarship to go to school and play baseball for the Terps.
    Last week, the Tigers made 18-year-old Pat Leyland their eighth-round draft pick.
    Now the kid is facing the biggest decision of his young life: College or the minor leagues.
    That was an option Jim Leyland didn't have when he turned pro and signed for a pittance with the Tigers in 1963. Pat, who has grown to 6-foot-2 and 200 pounds, is bigger than his dad (6-0, 180), and faces a more promising future. The Tigers believe the younger Leyland, who like his father is a catcher, is bona fide big league prospect.
    "Patrick has just got to make a decision," the elder Leyland said. "I know he wants to try it (professional baseball) some time."
    As an eighth-round pick, young Leyland won't have a lot of bargaining power when he sits down to talk contract with the Tigers. They will make him an offer, based upon what eighth-round picks usually get, and Leyland can take it or leave it.
    I asked Jim if his son has hired an agent yet.
    "Me," the elder Leyland replied, raising up from under the quilt as he relaxed on his Comerica Park office couch.
    Patrick Leyland, now 18, worked out at Comerica Park under the watchful eye of his dad Saturday afternoon -- as he as done so many times in seasons past.
    But this time it was different. There's a lot more on the line now.
    On Sunday morning, the young Leyland was up at the crack of dawn and on his way back home to Pittsburgh to play in an All-Star Game.
    Like any good parent, Jim got up early, too, to make sure his son found his way over to I-75 from Leyland's Royal Oak condo. Then the Tigers manager headed for the ballpark -- hence the morning nap on his couch.
    "The only advice I gave Patrick was, 'If you're sure you want to play, go play,' " the Tigers' manager explained. " 'And if you want to go to school, go to school.'
    "I told him, 'The money is going to be what it is. Don't worry about the money.'
    "He's going to play somewhere, either in college or in the minor leagues."
    I think Patrick will sign with the Tigers.
    "He's in for a rude awakening," Jim predicted, with a grin. "When he starts eating that tuna fish sandwich and orange (in the minors) instead of the fancy big league spread he's used to at the ballpark here, he's going to be shocked."