Terry Leach

[William Malone]

Terry Hester Leach was born on March 13, 1954 in Selma, Alabama.

His very long path to the Majors ended with a debut at age 27 for the New York Mets in 1981. Leach was originally drafted by the Boston Red Sox. He also spent time in the Atlanta Braves farm system, and pitched in an independent league. Leach was 24-9 with seven saves and 3.11 ERA for the Mets, pitching for them between 1981 and 1989. A shoulder injury kept him off the 1986 playoff roster.

The Kansas City Royals acquired Leach at the deadline in 1989. He signed with the Minnesota Twins as a free agent during the off-season.

Leach got off to a very fast start for his new team during the 1990 season. He logged 12.1 innings in April, allowing just seven base runners and no runs. Leach finished the year with 81.2 innings across 55 relief appearances, posting a 3.20 ERA with two saves. Twins manager Tom Kelly often used him as a long relief when the team was already trailing. Because of this, they went just 15-40 in the games Leach pitched.

He had a 3.61 ERA over 50 appearances in 1991. Leach made the Twins playoff roster, but did not appear in the ALCS. His name was called twice during the World Series. He got a huge out in game three, striking out Atlanta Braves second baseman Mark Lemke to get out of a bases loaded jam in the fifth inning. Minnesota wound up losing that game 5-4 in 12 innings. Leach also pitched two innings of mop up relief in game five, allowing one run in a blowout loss for the Twins.

His career finished by pitching for the Chicago White Sox in 1992 and 1993. Leach had a career year in 1992, owning a 1.95 ERA in 73.2 innings of relief work. Injuries limited him to just 14 appearances in 1993.

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