Tim Leary
Tim Leary | |||||||||||||||
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Pitcher | |||||||||||||||
Born: Santa Monica, California, U.S. | December 23, 1958|||||||||||||||
Batted: Right Threw: Right | |||||||||||||||
MLB debut | |||||||||||||||
April 12, 1981, for the New York Mets | |||||||||||||||
Last MLB appearance | |||||||||||||||
August 9, 1994, for the Texas Rangers | |||||||||||||||
MLB statistics | |||||||||||||||
Win–loss record | 78–105 | ||||||||||||||
Earned run average | 4.36 | ||||||||||||||
Strikeouts | 888 | ||||||||||||||
Teams | |||||||||||||||
Career highlights and awards | |||||||||||||||
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Medals
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Timothy James Leary (born December 23, 1958) is an American former professional baseball right-handed pitcher.
Amateur career
Leary posted a 10–2 record in his senior year at Santa Monica High School, and was named to the 1976 All-California Interscholastic Federation first-team. He went 19–1 to lead his American Legion Baseball team to the national championship.[1] Much more in stature than his teammate and fellow former major leaguer, Rod Allen, he received the opportunity to play college baseball at UCLA.
Leary attended the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), where he was a three-year letterwinner for the UCLA Bruins baseball team while completing an economics degree. Over his college career, Leary compiled a 21–15 record with a 3.09 earned run average. His sixteen complete games is a school record, and his 258 strikeouts are the school's fourth highest total.[2]
In
Professional career
New York Mets
Leary was selected by the
He returned to Tidewater in
Leary split the 1984 season between Tidewater and the Mets
Milwaukee Brewers
During the 1984–85 offseason, Leary was part of a four team trade in which the Mets sent him to the Milwaukee Brewers and received Frank Wills from the Kansas City Royals.
Leary spent the 1985 season with Milwaukee's triple A affiliate, the Vancouver Canadians, and once again returned to the majors when rosters expanded that September. He finally enjoyed his first healthy major league season in 1986 when he went 12–12 with a 4.21 ERA and 188.1 innings pitched. Following the season, he and Tim Crews were traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers for Greg Brock.
Los Angeles Dodgers
Leary went 3–11 with a 4.76 ERA splitting his time between
The Dodgers won the National League West by seven games over the Cincinnati Reds to face Leary's former franchise, the New York Mets, in the 1988 National League Championship Series. Leary appeared in the game four twelve inning marathon won by the Dodgers,[12] and made the start in game six, taking the loss.[13]
In the World Series against the Oakland Athletics, Leary was used out of the bullpen by manager Tommy Lasorda. His three innings of scoreless work allowed the Dodgers to come back from a 4–2 deficit in game one,[14] and he appeared in game three, allowing one run in 3.2 innings.[15]
Following the Dodgers' World Series victory, Leary was named the
Cincinnati Reds
He was traded to the Cincinnati Reds midway through the 1989 season with Mariano Duncan for Kal Daniels and Lenny Harris. After the season, the Reds sent him and Van Snider to the New York Yankees for Hal Morris and minor leaguer Rodney Imes.
New York Yankees
Leary experienced some hard luck in his first season with the Yankees. Despite a respectable 4.11 ERA, he led the
season, Leary went 2–8 with a 6.95 ERA to earn a demotion to the bullpen. He ended the season at 4–10 with a 6.49 ERA.He was moved back into the starting rotation in 1992, and was 5–6 with a 5.57 ERA when he was dealt to the Seattle Mariners for minor leaguer Sean Twitty.
Seattle Mariners
Seattle acquired Leary to fill a starting rotation that had been decimated by injury.[17] As a result, Leary made six starts that September.
In 1993, the Mariners improved from a team that narrowly avoided one hundred losses to 82–80, mostly due to new manager Lou Piniella, and the emergence of young stars Randy Johnson, Ken Griffey Jr. and Jay Buhner. For his part, Leary had his first winning season since 1988 at 11–9.
Retirement
Leary signed a minor league contract with an invitation to Spring training with the Montreal Expos in 1994. He was 2–4 with a 5.43 ERA for the triple A Ottawa Lynx when they released him. He caught on with the Texas Rangers shortly afterwards, and went 1–1 with an 8.14 ERA. He retired when the Rangers attempted to reassign him to the minor leagues following the season.[18]
In 2011, Leary served as the pitching coach at Cal State Northridge.
As of 2015, Leary is an Alumni member of the Los Angeles Dodgers Community Relations team.
Career stats
W
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L | PCT | ERA | G | GS | CG | SHO
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SV | IP | H | ER | R | HR | BB | K | WP | HBP | Fld% | Avg |
78 | 105 | .426 | 4.36 | 292 | 224 | 25 | 9 | 1 | 1491.1 | 1570 | 723 | 792 | 147 | 535 | 888 | 87 | 52 | .972 | .221 |
Leary was named the NL
Personal life
Leary was inducted into the
He lives in Santa Monica with his wife, Cindy VandenBulcke. He has three children.
References
- ^ "California Wins in Legion Play". The Modesto Bee. August 27, 1976.
- ^ "Tim Leary Profile". UCLABruins.com. Archived from the original on 2012-09-29.
- ^ "UCLA Star Paces Yanks". Spokane Daily Chronicle. July 4, 1979.
- ^ "New York Mets 2, Chicago Cubs 1". Baseball-Reference.com. April 12, 1981.
- ^ "Mets Place Leary on Disabled List". Record-Journal. April 22, 1981.
- ^ Dink Carroll (April 23, 1982). "N.Y. Mets' Pitching Big Question Mark". The Montreal Gazette.
- ^ "Chicago Cubs 11, New York Mets 7". Baseball-Reference.com. September 25, 1983.
- ^ "New York Mets 5, Montreal Expos 4". Baseball-Reference.com. October 2, 1983.
- ^ "Los Angeles Dodgers 4, Philadelphia Phillies 0". Baseball-Reference.com. May 25, 1988.
- ^ "Los Angeles Dodgers 1, St. Louis Cardinals 0". Baseball-Reference.com. July 18, 1988.
- ^ "Los Angeles Dodgers 6, Pittsburgh Pirates 2". Baseball-Reference.com. July 23, 1988.
- ^ "1988 National League Championship Series, Game Four". Baseball-Reference.com. October 9, 1988.
- ^ "1988 National League Championship Series, Game Six". Baseball-Reference.com. October 11, 1988.
- ^ "1988 World Series, Game One". Baseball-Reference.com. October 15, 1988.
- ^ "1988 World Series, Game Three". Baseball-Reference.com. October 18, 1988.
- ^ "Leary Rejoins Yankees for $5.95 Million". The Spokesman-Review. November 19, 1990.
- ^ "Pitching-thin Mariners Acquire Yankees' Leary". Lawrence Journal-World. August 23, 1992.
- ^ "Yankees Exercise Option on Howe". Herald-Journal. October 15, 1994.
- ^ "New York Mets 3, Philadelphia Phillies 1". Baseball-Reference.com. April 20, 1984.
- ^ "Tim Leary Profile". LMULions.com.
External links
- Career statistics and player information from MLB, or ESPN, or Baseball Reference, or Fangraphs, or Baseball Reference (Minors), or Retrosheet, or Ultimate Mets Database