Manuel learned plenty from Tigers' Leyland

In his philosophy of life, Mets manager Jerry Manuel considers himself a disciple of Mahatma Gandhi.

In his philosophy of baseball, Manuel counts two men among his mentors: Felipe Alou and Jim Leyland.

Alou, 75, is retired - his retired son Moises was a surprise visitor to the Mets' clubhouse last night - but Leyland is still managing at 65.

Leyland brought his Tigers into Citi Field for the opener of a three-game interleague series. It marked the first time that Manuel and Leyland managed against each other in a game that counted.

"We're really not facing each other," the gruffly entertaining Leyland said before the game. "David Wright is facing [Miguel] Cabrera. Jerry and I, we're just kind of tagging along.''

Manuel played for Leyland at Triple-A Evansville (a Tigers affiliate) in 1979, and Manuel was Leyland's bench coach with the 1997 Marlins, who won the World Series.

"One of the best,'' Leyland said. "He's a good man. He's an honest man. He's a good baseball man. He tells it like it is. He doesn't pull any punches. What you see is what you get. That's the way it is. He's always been that way. He was that way as a young player. He's been that way as a coach. I love him to death. Outstanding baseball man. He's an outstanding human being. I think the world of him.''

Manuel, 53, said he used to ride to the ballpark with Leyland when he was a player and used the opportunity to soak up some baseball knowledge.

"I learned a tremendous amount from Jim Leyland," Manuel said. "He and Felipe Alou have probably had the most impact on my strategy - the little strategy you guys say I have. My strategy of managing.

"There were times in Evansville when I'd ride to the park with the manager. We asked him questions about different things. I had an opportunity to be his bench coach in Florida. Never once, when you asked him a question, did you feel like you were second-guessing. He never treated it that way. He took the time to explain, explain why he did certain things.

"Just a tremendous, tremendous baseball man that I was fortunate - really blessed - to grasp things from him.''

The Mets and Tigers were in similar situations in their divisions - both were in second place. The Mets trailed Atlanta by 2½ games in the NL East while the Tigers were 1½ behind Minnesota in the AL Central.

The Mets won eight in a row before dropping the final two games of the Subway Series to the Yankees. The Tigers, who also had won eight of 10, were coming off winning two of three against Arizona.

Leyland is under contract to manage the Tigers for one more season after this one. Manuel is in the final guaranteed year of the deal he signed after replacing Willie Randolph; the Mets hold an option for next season.

The Mets' success has stopped talk of Manuel getting fired in its tracks. General manager Omar Minaya said last week that he wants Manuel to return but won't consider picking up the option or talking about an extension until the season is over.

With Ken Davidoff