Tim Leary

American baseball player (born 1958)

This article is about the baseball player. For 1960s counterculture figure, see Timothy Leary.

Baseball player

Tim Leary

Pitcher
Born: (1958-12-23) December 23, 1958 (age 66)
Santa Monica, California, U.S.

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
Stats at Baseball Reference
Teams

* New York Mets (1981, 1983–1984)
* Milwaukee Brewers (1985–1986)
* Los Angeles Dodgers (1987–1989)
* Cincinnati Reds (1989)
* New York Yankees (1990–1992)
* Seattle Mariners (1992–1993)
* Texas Rangers (1994)

Career highlights and awards

* World Series champion (1988)
* Silver Slugger Award (1988)

Medals

Men's baseball
Representing  United States
Amateur World Series
|  1978 Italy | Team

Timothy James Leary (born December 23, 1958) is an American former professional baseball right-handed pitcher.

## Amateur career

[edit]

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 1978, Leary helped lead the United States national baseball team to the silver medal in the World Cup played in Italy. He was also a member of the national team for the 1979 Pan American Games.[3]

## Professional career

[edit]

### New York Mets

[edit]

Leary was selected by the New York Mets as the second overall pick of the 1979 Major League Baseball draft. He went 15–8 with a 2.76 ERA and 138 strikeouts for the Jackson Mets in his first professional season, prompting the Mets to make the controversial decision to bring him all the way to the majors for his second season. Making his major league debut on April 12, 1981, Leary faced just seven batters,[4] before leaving the game after just two innings with a strained elbow.[5] After four months inactive, he appeared in six games with the Mets' triple A affiliate, the Tidewater Tides toward the end of the 1981 season. He strained his elbow a second time during Spring training 1982,[6] and was shut down for the entire 1982 season.

He returned to Tidewater in 1983, and fell to 8–16 with a 4.38 ERA, mostly due to an increase in home runs allowed (11 versus just 5 in 1980). Regardless, he received a second call up to the majors that September, and never made it out of the second inning in his return, mostly due to two errors by George Foster in left field that led to five unearned runs.[7] His second start, however, went far better, as he pitched a complete game for his first major league victory against the Montreal Expos.[8]

Leary split the 1984 season between Tidewater and the Mets

### Milwaukee Brewers

[edit]

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

[edit]

Leary went 3–11 with a 4.76 ERA splitting his time between starts and as a reliever in 1987. After the season, Leary pitched in the Mexican Leagues so he could learn how to throw a split-finger pitch. He had to drive from Santa Monica to Tijuana on a daily basis to play. This led to a breakthrough season for the Dodgers in 1988. He held the Philadelphia Phillies to just one hit on May 25,[9] and was named the National League's "Pitcher of the Week" for the week of July 18–24, during which he shut out the St. Louis Cardinals[10] and earned a complete game victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates.[11] He finished the season second on his team behind Cy Young Award winner Orel Hershiser in wins (17), ERA (2.91), shutouts (6), complete games (9) and innings pitched (228.2), while leading his club with 180 strikeouts.

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 Sporting News' National League Comeback Player of the Year for his regular season performance.

### Cincinnati Reds

[edit]

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

[edit]

Leary experienced some hard luck in his first season with the Yankees. Despite a respectable 4.11 ERA, he led the American League with nineteen losses, mostly due to poor run support from the Yankees' bats and a league leading 23 wild pitches. Either way, the Yankees re-signed Leary for three years and $5.95 million when he became a free agent at the end of the season.[16] After winning his first two starts of the 1991 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

[edit]

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

[edit]

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

[edit]

W | L  | PCT  | ERA | G | GS | CG | SHO | 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 Silver Slugger pitcher in 1988, when he batted .269 with nine runs batted in and thirteen successful sacrifice bunts. His only career home run came off Hall of Famer Steve Carlton.[19]

## Personal life

[edit]

Leary was inducted into the UCLA Bruins Athletics Hall of Fame while he was a member of the New York Yankees. Shortly after his retirement, he became a coach for UCLA from 1997 to 2000 and again in 2004. He has also coached at Loyola Marymount University[20] Now he is the pitching coach for Brentwood School (Los Angeles).

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "California Wins in Legion Play". The Modesto Bee. August 27, 1976.
2. ^ "Tim Leary Profile". UCLABruins.com. Archived from the original on September 29, 2012.
3. ^ "UCLA Star Paces Yanks". Spokane Daily Chronicle. July 4, 1979.
4. ^ "New York Mets 2, Chicago Cubs 1". Baseball-Reference.com. April 12, 1981.
5. ^ "Mets Place Leary on Disabled List". Record-Journal. April 22, 1981.
6. ^ Dink Carroll (April 23, 1982). "N.Y. Mets' Pitching Big Question Mark". The Montreal Gazette.
7. ^ "Chicago Cubs 11, New York Mets 7". Baseball-Reference.com. September 25, 1983.
8. ^ "New York Mets 5, Montreal Expos 4". Baseball-Reference.com. October 2, 1983.
9. ^ "Los Angeles Dodgers 4, Philadelphia Phillies 0". Baseball-Reference.com. May 25, 1988.
10. ^ "Los Angeles Dodgers 1, St. Louis Cardinals 0". Baseball-Reference.com. July 18, 1988.
11. ^ "Los Angeles Dodgers 6, Pittsburgh Pirates 2". Baseball-Reference.com. July 23, 1988.
12. ^ "1988 National League Championship Series, Game Four". Baseball-Reference.com. October 9, 1988.
13. ^ "1988 National League Championship Series, Game Six". Baseball-Reference.com. October 11, 1988.
14. ^ "1988 World Series, Game One". Baseball-Reference.com. October 15, 1988.
15. ^ "1988 World Series, Game Three". Baseball-Reference.com. October 18, 1988.
16. ^ "Leary Rejoins Yankees for $5.95 Million". The Spokesman-Review. November 19, 1990.
17. ^ "Pitching-thin Mariners Acquire Yankees' Leary". Lawrence Journal-World. August 23, 1992.
18. ^ "Yankees Exercise Option on Howe". Herald-Journal. October 15, 1994.
19. ^ "New York Mets 3, Philadelphia Phillies 1". Baseball-Reference.com. April 20, 1984.
20. ^ "Tim Leary Profile". LMULions.com.

## External links

[edit]

* Career statistics from MLB, or ESPN, or Baseball Reference, or Fangraphs, or Baseball Reference (Minors), or Retrosheet, or Ultimate Mets Database

* v
* t
* e

1979 Major League Baseball draft first round selections

* Al Chambers
* Tim Leary
* Jay Schroeder
* Brad Komminsk
* Juan Bustabad
* Andy Van Slyke
* John Bohnet
* John Mizerock
* Steve Buechele
* Tim Wallach
* Kevin Brandt
* Jon Perlman
* Rick Leach
* Jody Lansford
* Scott Garrelts
* Steve Howe
* Jerry Don Gleaton
* Rick Luecken
* Ricky Seilheimer
* Dan Lamar
* Atlee Hammaker
* Mike Sullivan
* Chris Baker
* Bob Geren
* Steve Perry
* Mike Stenhouse

* v
* t
* e

New York Mets first-round draft picks

* 1965: Rohr
* 1966: Chilcott
* 1967: Matlack
* 1968: Foli
* 1969: Sterling
* 1970: Ambrow
* 1971: Puig
* 1972: Bengston
* 1973: Mazzilli
* 1974: Speck
* 1975: Benton
* 1976: Thurberg
* 1977: Backman
* 1978: Brooks
* 1979: Leary
* 1980: Strawberry, Beane, Gibbons
* 1981: Blocker
* 1982: Gooden
* 1983: E. Williams, Jefferson, Schiraldi
* 1984: Abner
* 1985: Jefferies
* 1986: May
* 1987: Donnels
* 1988: Proctor
* 1989: Zinter
* 1990: Burnitz
* 1991: Shirley, Jones
* 1992: Pr. Wilson, Roberts, Ward
* 1993: Presley
* 1994: Pa. Wilson, Long, Payton
* 1995: Jaroncyk
* 1996: Stratton
* 1997: Goetz
* 1998: Tyner
* 1999: None
* 2000: Traber, Keppel
* 2001: Heilman, Wright
* 2002: Kazmir
* 2003: Milledge
* 2004: Humber
* 2005: Pelfrey
* 2006: None
* 2007: Kunz, Vineyard
* 2008: Davis, Havens, Holt
* 2009: None
* 2010: Harvey
* 2011: Nimmo, Fulmer
* 2012: Cecchini, Plawecki
* 2013: Smith
* 2014: Conforto
* 2015: None
* 2016: Dunn, Kay
* 2017: Peterson
* 2018: Kelenic
* 2019: Baty
* 2020: Crow-Armstrong
* 2021: Rocker
* 2022: Parada, J. Williams
* 2023: Houck
* 2024: Benge

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Texas League Most Valuable Player Award

* 1931: Dizzy Dean
* 1932: Hank Greenberg
* 1933: Zeke Bonura
* 1934: Charlie English
* 1935: Rudy York
* 1936: Les Mallon
* 1937: Harold Hillin
* 1938: Dizzy Trout
* 1939: Nick Cullop
* 1940: Bob Muncrief
* 1941: Rip Russell
* 1942: Dick Wakefield
* 1946: Hank Schenz
* 1947: Al Rosen
* 1948: Irv Noren
* 1949: Herb Conyers
* 1950: Gil McDougald
* 1951: Jim Dyck
* 1952: Billy Hunter
* 1953: Joe Frazier
* 1954: Frank Kellert
* 1955: Ray Murray
* 1956: Ken Guettler
* 1957: Jim Frey
* 1958: Michael Lutz
* 1959: Carl Warwick
* 1960: Chuck Hiller
* 1961: Phil Linz
* 1962: Cap Peterson
* 1963: Jim Beauchamp
* 1964: Joe Morgan
* 1965: Leo Posada
* 1966: Tommy Hutton
* 1967: Nate Colbert
* 1968: Jim Spencer, Bill Sudakis
* 1969: Larry Johnson, Bobby Grich
* 1970: Mickey Rivers
* 1971: Enos Cabell
* 1972: Randy Elliott
* 1973: Héctor Cruz
* 1974: John Balaz
* 1975: Gary Alexander
* 1976: Willie Aikens
* 1977: Karl Pagel
* 1978: Bobby Clark
* 1979: Mark Brouhard
* 1980: Tim Leary
* 1981: Steve Sax
* 1982: Darryl Strawberry
* 1983: Mark Gillaspie
* 1984: Jim Steels
* 1985: Billy Jo Robidoux
* 1986: Steve Stanicek
* 1987: Gregg Jefferies
* 1988: Jeff Manto
* 1989: Ray Lankford
* 1990: Henry Rodríguez
* 1991: John Jaha
* 1992: Troy O'Leary
* 1993: Roberto Petagine
* 1994: Tim Unroe
* 1995: Johnny Damon
* 1996: Bubba Smith
* 1997: Mike Kinkade
* 1998: Tyrone Horne
* 1999: Adam Piatt
* 2000: Keith Ginter
* 2001: Jason Lane
* 2002: Chad Tracy
* 2003: Justin Leone
* 2004: Ryan Shealy
* 2005: Andre Ethier
* 2006: Alex Gordon
* 2007: Chase Headley
* 2008: Kila Kaʻaihue
* 2009: Chris Carter
* 2010: Mike Moustakas
* 2011: Matt Adams
* 2012: Oscar Taveras
* 2013: George Springer
* 2014: Alex Yarbrough
* 2015: Chad Pinder
* 2016: Matt Chapman
* 2017: Matt Beaty
* 2018: Joey Curletta
* 2019: Dylan Carlson
* 2020: none
* 2021: MJ Melendez
* 2022: Moisés Gómez
* 2023: Thomas Saggese
* 2024: Jimmy Crooks

* v
* t
* e

Los Angeles Dodgers 1988 World Series champions

3 Steve Sax
5 Mike Marshall
7 Alfredo Griffin
9 Mickey Hatcher
10 Dave Anderson
12 Danny Heep
14 Mike Scioscia
17 Rick Dempsey
21 Tracy Woodson
22 Franklin Stubbs
23 Kirk Gibson (NL MVP)
26 Alejandro Peña
27 Mike Sharperson
29 Ricky Horton
30 John Tudor
31 John Shelby
33 Jeff Hamilton
37 Mike Davis
38 José González
47 Jesse Orosco
49 Tim Belcher
50 Jay Howell
51 Brian Holton
54 Tim Leary
55 Orel Hershiser (NL CYA, NLCS & World Series MVP)

Manager
2 Tommy Lasorda

Coaches
8 Joey Amalfitano
11 Manny Mota
13 Joe Ferguson
16 Ron Perranoski
18 Bill Russell
35 Ben Hines
58 Mark Cresse

Regular season
National League Championship Series

* v
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* e

National League Pitcher Silver Slugger Award

* 1980: Forsch
* 1981: Valenzuela
* 1982: Robinson
* 1983: Valenzuela
* 1984: Rhoden
* 1985: Rhoden
* 1986: Rhoden
* 1987: Forsch
* 1988: Leary
* 1989: Robinson
* 1990: Robinson
* 1991: Glavine
* 1992: Gooden
* 1993: Hershiser
* 1994: Portugal
* 1995: Glavine
* 1996: Glavine
* 1997: Smoltz
* 1998: Glavine
* 1999: Hampton
* 2000: Hampton
* 2001: Hampton
* 2002: Hampton
* 2003: Hampton
* 2004: Hernández
* 2005: Marquis
* 2006: Zambrano
* 2007: Owings
* 2008: Zambrano
* 2009: Zambrano
* 2010: Gallardo
* 2011: Hudson
* 2012: Strasburg
* 2013: Greinke
* 2014: Bumgarner
* 2015: Bumgarner
* 2016: Arrieta
* 2017: Wainwright
* 2018: Márquez
* 2019: Greinke
* 2021: Fried

* v
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The Sporting News National League Comeback Player of the Year Award

* 1965: Law
* 1966: Regan
* 1967: McCormick
* 1968: A. Johnson
* 1969: Agee
* 1970: Hickman
* 1971: Downing
* 1972: Tolan
* 1973: D. Johnson
* 1974: Wynn
* 1975: Jones
* 1976: John
* 1977: McCovey
* 1978: Stargell
* 1979: Brock
* 1980: Reuss
* 1981: Knepper
* 1982: Morgan
* 1983: Denny
* 1984: Andújar
* 1985: Reuschel
* 1986: Knight
* 1987: Sutcliffe
* 1988: Leary
* 1989: Smith
* 1990: Tudor
* 1991: Pendleton
* 1992: Sheffield
* 1993: Galarraga
* 1994: Wallach
* 1995: Gant
* 1996: Davis
* 1997: Daulton
* 1998: Vaughn
* 1999: Henderson
* 2000: Galarraga
* 2001: Morris
* 2002: Lieberthal
* 2003: López
* 2004: Carpenter
* 2005: Griffey, Jr.
* 2006: Garciaparra
* 2007: Young
* 2008: Tatis
* 2009: Carpenter
* 2010: Hudson
* 2011: Berkman
* 2012: Posey
* 2013: Liriano
* 2014: McGehee
* 2015: Harvey
* 2016: Fernández
* 2017: Holland
* 2018: Kemp
* 2019: Donaldson
* 2020: Bard
* 2021: Posey
* 2022: Drury
* 2023: Bellinger
* 2024: Sale

* v
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* e

New York Yankees Opening Day starting pitchers

* Stan Bahnsen
* Tiny Bonham
* Hank Borowy
* Jim Bouton
* Ray Caldwell
* Spud Chandler
* Jack Chesbro
* Roger Clemens
* Jim Coates
* Gerrit Cole
* David Cone
* Nestor Cortés Jr.
* Atley Donald
* Slow Joe Doyle
* Whitey Ford
* Lefty Gomez
* Ron Guidry
* Orlando Hernández
* Waite Hoyt
* Tom Hughes
* Catfish Hunter
* Tommy John
* Randy Johnson
* Sad Sam Jones
* Jimmy Key
* Dave LaPoint
* Don Larsen
* Tim Leary
* Eddie Lopat
* Carl Mays
* George McConnell
* Joe McGinnity
* Marty McHale
* Doc Medich
* George Mogridge
* Mike Mussina
* Doc Newton
* Phil Niekro
* Al Orth
* Carl Pavano
* Herb Pennock
* Andy Pettitte
* George Pipgras
* Vic Raschi
* Dennis Rasmussen
* Allie Reynolds
* Rick Rhoden
* Red Ruffing
* Marius Russo
* CC Sabathia
* Scott Sanderson
* Luis Severino
* Bob Shawkey
* Urban Shocker
* Mel Stottlemyre
* Masahiro Tanaka
* Ralph Terry
* Bob Turley
* Hippo Vaughn
* Chien-Ming Wang
* Jack Warhop

*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template
*[Ambrow]: George Ambrow
*[Bengston]: Richard Bengston
*[Thurberg]: Tom Thurberg
*[May]: Lee May Jr.
*[Proctor]: Dave Proctor
*[Shirley]: Al Shirley
*[Ward]: Jon Ward
*[Presley]: Kirk Presley
*[Jaroncyk]: Ryan Jaroncyk
*[Stratton]: Robert Stratton
*[Goetz]: Geoff Goetz
*[Vineyard]: Nathan Vineyard
*[Holt]: Brad Holt