Al Leiter

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Alois Terry "Al" Leiter [lighter] (born October 23, 1965 in Toms River, New Jersey), is a retired Major League Baseball left-handed starting pitcher who played with the New York Yankees (1987-89, 2005), the Florida Marlins (1996-97, 2005), the Toronto Blue Jays (1989-95) and the New York Mets (1998-2004). He attended Central Regional High School. Now he is a color commentator for the Yankees Entertainment and Sports Network.

In 19 seasons, Leiter compiled a 162-132 record with 1974 strikeouts, a 3.80 ERA, 16 complete games, 10 shutouts, and 2391.0 innings in 419 games. In 21 post-season games (11 starts) he went 2-3 with 68 strikeouts and a 4.63 ERA.

Leiter made his major league debut as the starting pitcher for the New York Yankees on September 15, 1987 earning the win in a Yankees 4-3 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers at Yankee Stadium.

On April 30, 1989, the Yankees traded Leiter to the Toronto Blue Jays for Jesse Barfield. Leiter pitched for the Blue Jays for parts of the next seven seasons. His stay in Toronto was highlighted by the Blue Jays back to back World Series championships in 1992 and 1993. In the 1993 World Series, Leiter earned the victory in Game 1 while pitching out of the bullpen.

Following the 1995 season, Leiter left Toronto and signed with the Florida Marlins as a free agent. In his first season as a Marlin, Leiter made his first All-Star team, going 16-12 with a 2.93 ERA and 200 strikeouts. On May 11 of that year, Leiter pitched a no-hitter against the Colorado Rockies, the first in Marlins history.

In 1997, Leiter won another World Series as the Marlins beat the Cleveland Indians. Leiter started Game 7 for the Marlins, pitching 6 innings and giving up two earned runs while being credited with a no decision. The Marlins would go on to win the game 3-2 in 11 innings to capture the championship.

In the following off-season, Leiter was traded to the New York Mets in part of the Marlins "fire-sale" where owner Wayne Huizenga traded away almost all of the team's higher priced players.

In Leiter's first season as a Met, he reached a career high in wins going 17-6 and a career low in ERA finishing with a 2.47 ERA. In 1999, when the Mets were tied with the Cincinnati Reds for the National League Wild Card spot after 162 games, Leiter was the Mets starting pitcher in the "winner take all" one game playoff in Cinergy Field in Cincinnati. Leiter pitched dominantly in that game, pitching a 2-hit complete game shutout to earn the win in the Mets 5-0 victory. The win put the Mets in the playoffs for the first time in 11 seasons. The Mets would go on to lose the 1999 National League Championship Series to the Atlanta Braves 4 games to 2.

In 2000 Leiter made the All-Star team once again going 16-8 with a 3.20 ERA and 200 strikeouts. The Mets made the playoffs again in 2000 and this time reached the World Series. Leiter started Game 1 of the 2000 World Series at Yankee Stadium and Game 5 at Shea Stadium. Although pitching very well in that World Series, with a 2.87 ERA and 16 strikeouts in 15 2/3 innings, the Mets lost both games he started and eventually lost the World Series 4 games to 1.

Leiter would pitch for the Mets until the end of the 2004 season. In his seven seasons in a Met uniform, all wearing number 22, he went 95-67 with a 3.42 ERA. At the time he left the Mets, he ranked highly on several Mets all-time lists including wins (6th), strikeouts (7th with 1106), innings pitched (7th with 1360.0), and games started (6th with 213). He was the Mets Opening Day starting pitcher in 1999, 2001, and 2002.

In ten straight seasons, from 1995 to 2004, Leiter had at least 10 wins and at least a .500 record.

Following the 2004 season, the Mets declined Leiter's US$10 million option for 2005, making him a free agent. His old team, the Marlins, signed Leiter to a one-year, $8 million contract on December 8, 2004.

Leiter struggled during his return to the Marlins. His cut fastball was flattening out, and he walked more batters than usual (60 in 80 innings, to go with 88 hits). In 17 appearances (16 starts), he had a 3-7 record and a 6.64 ERA, and he took much criticism for the Marlins' first-half struggles in 2005 (they were 7 games behind the surprising Washington Nationals at the All-Star break). He was demoted to the bullpen in late June, but he returned to the rotation after an injury to Josh Beckett. On July 10, when the Marlins played their last game before the three-day All-Star break, he gave up six runs in three-plus innings.

On July 14, 2005, the Florida Marlins designated Leiter for assignment. The next day, he was acquired by the New York Yankees, who had four starting pitchers on the disabled list, for a player to be named later. His first start as a Yankee since April 26, 1989, came on July 17, 2005, against the division-leading Boston Red Sox. Leiter won the game, pitching 6 1/3 innings, allowing one run and three hits, and striking out eight. After several starts, some good, some bad, he informed Joe Torre that he would be willing to pitch out of the bullpen, where he would stay for the latter part of the season, yielding his starting slot to Aaron Small.

Leiter worked out of the bullpen in the 2005 American League Division Series pitching in four of the five games between the Yankees and Anaheim Angels. The Angels won the series 3 games to 2. In his final appearance in a major league uniform (in a non-exhibition game), Leiter earned a win pitching 2/3 scoreless innings in Game 4 at Yankee Stadium. The Yankees won the game 3-2.

Leiter signed a minor league contract with the Yankees in 2006; however, he stated he would likely retire. The primary reason he spent part of spring training with the Yankees was to keep in shape for the World Baseball Classic. After the United States team was eliminated from the World Baseball Classic, he officially retired in an interview on YES, after a Yankees spring training victory versus the Indians where Leiter pitched 1/3 an inning.[1] He has since become a color commentator for the aforementioned YES Network.

Leiter has worked in the broadcast booth for FOX during the playoffs in the past several seasons, mainly to provide in-depth analysis of various pitchers. He is well liked as a broadcaster because of his pleasant voice, interesting anecdotes, insightfullness and his sense of humor. Leiter's contract with YES allows him to join a network broadcast team for the postseason once the Yankees have been eliminated from the playoffs. Al goes down as one of the most heralded "big game" pitchers this game has ever produced. Leiter is considered one of the premier good guys in the game. He has won nearly every philanthropic award MLB offers and has always recognized that he is not only lucky to have played, but how fortunate he is to fulfill a dream come true. His charitable side has helped make him truly one of the good guys to cheer for and he has responded with a splendid career, and even better reputation for his off field efforts in helping children in need.

Leiter had five pitches: fastball, cutter, slider, change, and a curveball which he did not use very often. He needed to continually change speeds and stay ahead of the hitter to be successful.

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