Jeffrey Leonard
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Jeffrey Leonard (born September 22, 1955, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) is a former outfielder in Major League Baseball with a 14-year career from 1977 to 1990. He played for the Los Angeles Dodgers, Houston Astros and San Francisco Giants, all of the National League, and the Milwaukee Brewers and Seattle Mariners, both of the American League.
He was elected to the National League All-Star team in 1987 and to the American League All-Star team in 1989.
Nicknamed HacMan (after the video game "PacMan" which was popular at the time), Leonard became noteworthy for his "one flap down" routine. In other words, whenever Leonard was running around the bases after hitting a home run, he would do so with one arm hanging downward (as if it was motionless).
Jeffrey Leonard's greatest moment as a player most likely occurred during the 1987 National League Championship Series while with the San Francisco Giants. During the seven game-long series against the St. Louis Cardinals, Leonard had five runs, ten hits, four home runs, five runs batted in, a batting average of .417, and a slugging percentage of .917. For his performance, Leonard was awarded the 1987 NLCS Most Valuable Player Award. It was also during this NLCS that Leonard would draw ire for a "Cadillac" home run trot; the Cardinals felt he took a little too much time rounding the bases on his home runs, thereby showing up the pitcher. He also acquired the nickname "Penitentiary Face" during this series because of his sour demeanor. Ironically, Leonard's Giants would go on to lose that particular NLCS against the Cardinals. To date, Jeffrey Leonard is the last person to be named the Most Valuable Player of a League Championship Series while a member of the losing team.
On February 28, 1986, Leonard and six others were suspended for the entire season for admitting during the Pittsburgh drug trials that they were involved in cocaine abuse. The suspensions for all seven were avoided after agreeing to large anti-drug donations and community service.
[edit] Trivia
- tied for the California League lead for assists by an outfielder with 13 while playing for the Lodi Dodgers in 1976
- led the Pacific Coast League in hits (183) and batting average (.365) while playing for the Albuquerque Dukes in 1978
[edit] Reference
- 1980 Baseball Register published by The Sporting News
[edit] External links
- Baseball-Reference.com - career statistics and analysis
- Retrosheet
Preceded by Mike Scott |
National League Championship Series MVP 1987 |
Succeeded by Orel Hershiser |
Categories: 1955 births | Living people | People from Philadelphia | Major league players from Pennsylvania | Baseball players suspended for drug offenses | African American baseball players | Los Angeles Dodgers players | Houston Astros players | San Francisco Giants players | Milwaukee Brewers players | Seattle Mariners players | National League All-Stars | American League All-Stars | Baseball players who have hit for the cycle | 1987 in baseball | Major league left fielders | Major league center fielders | Major league right fielders | Baseball left fielder stubs