Baseball got some much-needed good news Friday. The Detroit Tigers gave manager Jim Leyland a two-year contract extension through the 2011 season just when it seemed they might be on the verge of making a terrible mistake by pushing him out of the game. The sport is much better with Leyland in it.

Baseball is full of phonies, the latest proof coming last week with news that former slugger Sammy Sosa tested positive for steroids in 2003. Clearly, Leyland is real. What you see is what you get.

What I see is still the best manager in the game.

It's amazing the Tigers are in first place even if they are in the lame American League Central Division. Their nearly $10 million-a-year pitcher -- Dontrelle Willis -- has won one game and is on the disabled list for the second time this season with an anxiety disorder. Another front-end starter -- Jeremy Bonderman -- has made only one start because of rib surgery. The No. 3 starter -- Rick Porcello -- is a 20-year-old rookie. There really are no fourth and fifth starters. The bullpen has been spotty. The projected Nos. 3 and 5 hitters at the start of the season -- Magglio Ordonez and Carlos Guillen -- have combined for two home runs. Ordonez was benched last week and Guillen has been on the disabled list since May 5 with a shoulder problem.

The Tigers are in first place for no better reason than Leyland's extraordinary people skills. "He is as honest as any manager I've ever had," Detroit outfielder Curtis Granderson told the Detroit Free Press last week. "The way he is able to take different types of people -- old, young, lot of money, little money, rookies, veterans, guys who have played on championship teams, guys who haven't -- and put it all together ... "

Leyland said he has faced "more issues" this season than in any season of his career. That's saying something considering his 11-year run with the Pirates. They lost 104 games the season before he arrived in 1986, then, after winning three consecutive division titles in the early 1990s, were hamstrung by Kevin McClatchy's shallow-pockets ownership.

That's why it's nice to see the Tigers recognize Leyland's work with the extension. General manager Dave Dombrowski went to Leyland's office at Comerica Park mid-morning Friday -- the skipper frequently sleeps there because his family still lives here, in Thornburg -- to tell him the news.

"A total shock," Leyland said over the telephone yesterday before the Tigers completed a weekend sweep of the Milwaukee Brewers with a 3-2 win. "I wasn't expecting anything to happen until after the season."

Leyland had asked for an extension last fall but was turned down. The Tigers were coming off a horrible year, finishing in last place with 74-88 record despite a $139 million payroll. As usual, injuries were mostly to blame -- pitchers Willis, Bonderman, Kenny Rogers and Todd Jones all missed significant time -- but management still chose to send Leyland into this season in the last year of his contract.

That iffy status would have doomed a lesser manager. The players would have smelled blood in the water and eaten him up. Not Leyland. "I talked to the players in spring training and told them we weren't going to allow this to become a distraction," he said, flatly. He was prepared to retire after the season if the Tigers didn't want him back.

"I'm too old to go anywhere else," Leyland said. He's 64.

Privately, though, Leyland seethed. In 2006, his first season in Detroit, he led the Tigers to the World Series -- they were beaten by the Cardinals -- for their first winning season in 13 years and their first playoff spot in 19. In 2007, they went 88-74 and finished second. Then one bad year ...

"I didn't like it," Leyland said of not getting the extension last fall, "but I understood it."

It's not as if Leyland has time to celebrate his new deal, worth $4 million per season. His biggest challenge is finding a way to get Ordonez going. He had just two home runs and 22 RBIs when Leyland told him he was going to sit him to get him away from the pressures of the game for a while. It has been a tough time for the player and a lot of Marlboros for the manager.

"It's very difficult, but you always feel better about yourself when you address the problem," Leyland said. "That's what leadership is all about. You've got to face your problems head on."

Leyland said Ordonez will be back in the lineup this week.

Surely, other issues will come up. They always do. The Tigers are lucky to have Leyland. I wouldn't want anyone else managing my club. I refuse to bet against him winning another division title or even getting back to his third World Series, team flaws or not. He won it all in '97 with the Florida Marlins.

"I feel good," Leyland said. "I still like the competition. I've still got the fire."

Here's hoping it doesn't burn out any time soon. Not so much for the Tigers' sake or even Leyland's. For the good of baseball.