Jim Leyritz

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James Joseph Leyritz (born December 27, 1963 in Lakewood, Ohio) is a former catcher and infielder in Major League Baseball who played for the New York Yankees (1990-1996, 1999-2000), with whom he debuted on June 8, 1990. He also played for the Anaheim Angels (1997), Texas Rangers (1997), Boston Red Sox (1998), San Diego Padres (1998) and Los Angeles Dodgers (2000), pinch-hitting more extensively toward the end of his career. He batted and threw right-handed exclusively in the majors, but was known to switch-hit in the minor leagues. He was best known for his 3-run home run off Atlanta Braves closer Mark Wohlers in Game 4 of the 1996 World Series. That homer was significant, as the momentum shifted towards the Yankees from then on. "The King" is also known for hitting the last home run of the 1990s in Game 4 of the 1999 World Series. He attended Turpin High School in Cincinnati, Ohio and the University of Kentucky.

On December 28, 2007, Leyritz was arrested and charged with DUI manslaughter, accused of hitting another car in Fort Lauderdale and killing the driver.

[edit] Idiosyncrasies at the plate

Leyritz was known for using an awkward stance which involved keeping his front leg (left leg) straight and stiff while his back leg (left leg) behind him considerably bent at the knee. He did this while circling his bat around behind his head while waiting for the pitch. After each pitch that Jim did not put into play or strike out on, Leyritz would grab the bat by its center and twirl it at his hip almost like a baton.

[edit] Playoff Reputation and Exploits

Despite being a mediocre hitter throughout his career, Leyritz was known for hitting numerous postseason home runs that either won, tied, or changed the momentum of several series.

In Game 2 of the 1995 American League Division Series against the Seattle Mariners at Yankee Stadium, Leyritz hit an opposite field 2-run home run to right-center into the rain in the 15th inning to win that game 7-5 for the Yankees and provided them with an ample 2-0 series lead in the best-of-five series. The home run came off of Mariners pitcher Tim Belcher, who was famously involved in a profanity-laced and threatening incident with a cameraman covering him walking through the Yankee Stadium tunnel after giving up the home run. The Yankees would eventually squander the series lead by losing the following three games in Seattle's Kingdome, the final two of which were decided in highly dramatic fashion. (The Mariners won Game 5 by a score of 6-5 with two runs in the bottom of the 11th inning.) As a result, this home run is not as well known because it ultimately did not change the series outcome.

The best known of Leyritz's playoff heroics occurred in Game 4 of the 1996 World Series against the Atlanta Braves at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium. The Yankees had lost the first two games of the series at home, and narrowly won Game 3 in Atlanta. Game 4 appeared to be going to the Braves; the score was 6-0 after the 5th inning. A Braves victory would have given Atlanta a commanding 3-1 series advantage. The Yankees scored three times in the 6th inning, and in the 8th inning, Leyritz hit a 3-run home run to left field to tie the game and cap the improbable Yankee comeback. The home run was hit against Atlanta closer Mark Wohlers and the Yankees eventually won the game 8-6 in 10 innings. Future Hall of Famer Wade Boggs’s two-out bases loaded walk against pitcher Steve Avery would score the go-ahead (and eventual winning) run in the top of the 10th. New York would win two more hotly-contested one-run games to clinch the series over the heavily-favored Braves in six games. Leyritz's Game 4 home run remains the most recognizable moment of that series and of his career.

In 1998, Leyritz had since left the Yankees and caught on with the San Diego Padres, who made the playoffs that year as winners of the National League West. Leyritz hit a number of unlikely playoff home runs and clutch hits, the most dramatic of which was an opposite field home run to right off the foul pole in the top of the 9th inning in the Astrodome that tied Game 2 of the National League Division Series against the Houston Astros. However, the Astros would later win the game in the bottom of the ninth. In game 3, Leyritz hit the eventually game-winning home run in the bottom of the 7th inning that broke a 1-1 tie. Overall, Leyritz batted .400 with 3 home runs and 5 RBIs in that Division Series. Ironically, Leyritz's Padres would go up against his former team, the Yankees in the World Series. The Padres were swept in four games by a 114-win Yankee team widely considered to be one of the greatest teams of all-time, and Leyritz did not record a home run or RBI in any game.

In 1999, Leyritz had rejoined the Yankees and hit a solo home run in the bottom of the 8th inning of Game 4 of the World Series, another Yankees sweep, this time in a rematch with Atlanta. The homer made the score 4-1 to give the Yankees some extra breathing room going into the 9th inning. NBC commentator Bob Costas remarked incredulously about Leyritz after the home run "You could send this guy to a resort in the spring and summer, as long as he comes back for October." This was the home run known as the last of the 1990s since it was the final Major League Baseball game of the 1999 postseason.

[edit] Amphetamine use

On June 8, 2006, while doing an interview on the Opie and Anthony show on XM Satellite Radio, Leyritz admitted to using amphetamines after his shoulder surgery in 2001. The statement came in the wake of an admission by pitcher Jason Grimsley that he used performance enhancing drugs throughout his career.^[1]

[edit] Radio career

Leyritz currently hosts a radio show with Vinny Micucci called MLB Radio Daily on MLB Radio and is also a regular contributor to The Michael Kay Show on the New York City ESPN Radio affiliate.

[edit] Legal trouble

On December 28, 2007, Leyritz was arrested in Broward County, Florida on suspicion of drunk driving and vehicular homicide in which Leyritz's car struck another driver's. The driver was returning home from her bartending job, and not wearing a seat belt, ejected from the car and died later at the scene. Fredia Veitch, the deceased driver, was intoxicated as well, according to prosecutors.

Leyritz was released on $11,000 bond and charged with two counts of drunk driving.^[2]

Police collected two blood samples from Leyritz - one 2 1/2 hours after the crash and the other about an hour later. The first sample showed a blood-alcohol level of .14, and the second, .13, police said. Florida's legal limit for motorists is .08.

Prosecutors say the results showing that Fredia Veitch had a blood-alcohol level of .18, and was more intoxicated than Leyritz, toxicology reports released February 1 indicated.

Several days after the accident, it was revealed that Leyritz may face further charges because he had his license suspended in New York prior to the accident. On June 20, 2007 Leyritz was ticketed outside Albany, New York for using a cell phone while driving, which is against state law. On November 23, 2007 his license was suspended after he became a no show in traffic court. The state of Florida is currently processing the suspension notice from New York, and could file additional charges once his Florida license is suspended. According to an official from the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles: "The department has the statutory ability to suspend his license based on the fact he had knowledge of a suspension in another state and still came to Florida for a driver's license. It is unlawful". Leyritz's lawyer is quoted as saying that Leyritz's license "was not suspended in the state of Florida on the day of the accident, nor is it suspended today".^[3]

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference