Tommy Leach | |||
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Outfielder / Third baseman | |||
Born: French Creek, New York |
November 4, 1877|||
Died: September 29, 1969 Haines City, Florida |
(aged 91)|||
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MLB debut | |||
September 28, 1898, for the Louisville Colonels | |||
Last MLB appearance | |||
September 2, 1918, for the Pittsburgh Pirates | |||
MLB statistics | |||
Batting average | .269 | ||
Hits | 2,143 | ||
Home runs | 63 | ||
Runs batted in | 810 | ||
Teams | |||
Career highlights and awards | |||
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Thomas Andrew Leach (November 4, 1877 – September 29, 1969) known as Tommy Leach or Tommie Leach, was a baseball player during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Leach participated in the first modern World Series in 1903 with the Pittsburgh Pirates, hitting four triples to set a record that still stands. He played with legendary ballplayers such as Honus Wagner, Dummy Hoy, Three Finger Brown, Frank Chance, Heinie Groh, Max Carey, Casey Stengel and Rube Waddell. Leach played professionally for the Louisville Colonels, Pirates, Chicago Cubs and Cincinnati Reds for nineteen seasons. Early on, Leach was primarily an infielder including playing shortstop, second base and, mostly, third base. Later in his career, to take advantage of his speed, Leach played mostly outfield. Leach is also famous for having interviewed for Lawrence Ritter's The Glory of Their Times collection.
Leach was well known for his small stature and was nicknamed "Wee Tommy". In 1902, while with the Pirates, he led the National League in home runs with a total of six. Each one was of the inside-the-park variety, which was not unusual in the "dead-ball era". 49 of Tommy Leach's 63 career home runs were inside-the-park, which is still a National League record.