Dennis Leonard

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Dennis Leonard
Pitcher
Born: May 8, 1951 (1951-05-08) (age 57)
Brooklyn, New York
Batted: Right Threw: Right
MLB debut
September 4, 1974
for the Kansas City Royals
Final game
September 27, 1986
for the Kansas City Royals
Career statistics
Win-Loss Record     144-106
ERA     3.70
Strikeouts     1,323
Teams
Career highlights and awards

Dennis Patrick Leonard (born May 8, 1951 in Brooklyn, New York) was one of the Kansas City Royals' most dominating pitchers of the late '70s and early '80s, but a promising career cut short due to injuries. In 1975, his first full year he managed to bust out with a 15-7 record. He would keep adding on to that with three 20 win seasons, but more impressive was the amount of games he started and finished. Despite his success in the regular season his post season record is less than impressive. He started 9 postseason games for the Royals between 1976 and 1981, but ended with a record of only 3-5, including a 1-1 record in the 1980 World Series against the Philadelphia Phillies.

Towards the end of his career he missed most of the remaining seasons due to knee injuries. His final season was in 1986 where he ended up with a 8-13 record despite a strong showing. Besides his rookie season of 1974 this was the only time he had a losing record. At the end of the 1986 season he retired from the MLB.

[edit] See also

Preceded by
Jim Palmer
American League Wins Champion
1977
(with Dave Goltz & Jim Palmer)
Succeeded by
Ron Guidry