Updated: May 1, 2010, 7:46 PM ET

Leyland vows to abide by smoking ban

ESPN.com news services

Facing the Angels, Jim Leyland turned toward the angel on his shoulder Saturday.

The Tigers manager, a devout cigarette aficionado, took on the specter of Michigan's public smoking ban for the first time when Detroit hosted Los Angeles at Comerica Park, a 3-2 victory thanks to Johnny Damon's ninth-inning solo home run.

“

I'm a law-
abiding citizen, so it's just the way it is.

” -- Tigers manager Jim Leyland

The law took effect at 6 a.m. ET and applies to nearly all public workplaces in the state.

"I'm a law-abiding citizen, so it's just the way it is," Leyland said Friday, according to The Grand Rapids Press. "We're not supposed to smoke here, and I won't do it. I'll try to find someplace outside somewhere, I guess, but I think you're not supposed to smoke at all in the park."

Camacho Cigar Bar inside the stadium's Tiger Club will be among cigar bars and tobacco specialty shops that are exempt.

But Leyland, 65, who also smokes cigars, said he won't have a problem fighting that urge.

"It's hard to go down there in the sixth inning," he said, according to the Grand Rapids newspaper.