First of all, I'd be remiss if I didn't mention that Al Leiter was a local Jersey resident, and that my dad saw him pitch in high school because he was one of those 'state talents' that you kind of had to witness play before he got big. Sure enough, the Yankees draft him out of high school, he's pitching for them in 88 and he's off to the races.
The big issue with Leiter is that from 1989 to 1992, his stats are nonexistent due to either injury issues, lack of control, and just general majors inefficiency. So the Yankees, and later the Blue Jays after they trade Jesse Barfield for him, don't really know what to do with him.
However, in 1993, Al Leiter shows up. Starts as a reliever, builds into a starter and wins a World Series in 1993, then becomes a fantastic starter that the Marlins sign to a multi-year deal in 1996, he's the ace of that team and wins another World Series in 97, then once the Marlins clean house in 97 he's traded to the Mets for...AJ Burnett surprisingly, and becomes the ace in Queens, gets to ANOTHER World Series in 2000, has strong numbers til the contract runs out in 2004.
So, 2005, the year that Topps missed a step, Leiter signs with the Florida Marlins, the team where he achieved his greatest successes, in the offseason. Topps doesn't depict this in Series 1, because they use a Mets photo assuming he stays with the Mets. Leiter, after several seasons of prime, high-strikeout material...pitches like a 39-year-old for the fish. In 17 games, he has a 6.64 ERA, a 3-7 record and 52 strikeouts. In a rotation with Josh Beckett, Dontrelle Willis and A.J. Burnett, the very guy he was traded for, Leiter sticks out like a sore thumb.
In July, he's sent to the Yankees on a conditional deal, so his career essentially has gone full circle. In 16 games, Leiter improves to a 5.49 ERA, 45 strikeouts and 4 wins, plus a postseason victory. Topps rewards this with a card in Updates and Highlights. Yet the Marlins games go unrepresented in flagship.
Even if it was one of his weakest moments, Al Leiter's return to Miami should have been a part of a Topps set in 2005. It's a kind of return mission, like David Cone's return to New York or Roger Clemens' return to the Bronx, that deserves depiction.
He pitched the first Marlins no-hitter (against the Rockies).
ReplyDeleteAl Leiter is probably as good an example of "Hall Of Very Good" as you can get. He's clearly not a Hall of Famer, but he's not all that far off, either. Although IIRC he was about as bad a hitter as you'll ever see in the majors.
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