He came to the Yankees as a heralded rookie in 1990, making headlines as one of the 'Young Guns' of the future. That plan had a temporary setback last year when he was sent to Columbus after a slow start. Leyritz was unhappy with his demotion and set out to prove the organization was wrong. Demonstrating the grit and determination that major-leaguers are made of, the young Leyritz hit over .300 for the Clippers after the All-Star break and then hit over .300 in the playoffs to lead his team to the International League Championship. After his recall to New York he again hit over .300 and played errorless ball in the field.
Jim Leyritz is versatile; he can play third base, catcher and outfield, and he can hit for average and power. That's why the Yankees have such high regard for the 28-year-old who appears to be on his way back."
-The New York Yankees Official 1992 Yearbook
"Leyritz spent time with both the Yankees and the Columbus Clippers in 1991. He started the season with the Yankees before being optioned to the Clippers on May 17.
He appeared in 11 April games, made three starts and hit .083 (0-for-12). He was the Opening Day catcher on April 8 at Detroit- his other two starts were at third base. Jim's only hit in April was a pinch single on April 10 at Detroit off Walt Terrell.
May was no better offensively. Leyritz started eight games, all at third, and hit .094 (3-for-32). All three hits came in back-to-back games, May 5-6 at Seattle.
With the Clippers Jim played in 79 games and hit .267 with 11 home runs and 48 RBIs. Upon his recall to New York on September 16, he played in 10 games (9 starts) and improved his offensive numbers dramatically. He hit .303 (10-for-33) with four RBIs and in the field did not make an error.
Overall for the Yankees in 1991, Jim played in 32 games of which 20 were starts at catcher (3), third base (16) and DH (1). In his two stints he combined to .181 with four RBIs. With the Clippers, he played second base (1), third (21), shortstop (1) and caught (34). He hit .316 (6 HR, 21 RBI) after the break, .321 (9-for-28) in the playoffs and was tied for seventh in the Yankee organization in home runs (11). Jim spent a week on the disabled list (June 24-July 1) with a sore arm while at Columbus.
Jim signed a contract for the 1992 season.
A versatile player for the 1990 Yankees, Jim played third base, outfield and caught while hitting .257 with five home runs and 25 RBIs.
Jim started the season with the Clippers and had his contract purchased on June 8. At the time of his promotion he was hitting .280 with eight home runs and 31 RBIs over 59 games. With the Clippers he saw action at first base, second base, third base, in the outfield and at catcher.
He made an immediate impact, making his major league debut as a pinch hitter on June 8 at Baltimore- he had a two-out 9th inning RBI single off Gregg Olson to tie the score at 4-4. Jim's first start came on June 10, also at Baltimore, going 2-for-3 with a double. His second pinch-hit at-bat came on June 13 against Boston, resulting in a single off Roger Clemens.
From June 18-27 Jim hit in nine straight games (.412, 14-for-34). On June 30 at Chicago, he went 3-for-5 with his first two major league home runs (off Melido Perez and Ken Patterson).
From June 19-July 2, Jim hit .400 (20-for-50) over a 13-game period, raising his average from .250 to .351. He hit .343 in June. At the break he was hitting .313 with two homers and eight RBIs.
Jim's batting average tailed off after the break as he hit .220 (13-for-59) through the rest of July. Included was a home run off Clay Parker of Detroit on the final day of the month. From July 12-August 27 he started 42 of the clubs 47 games at third base.
He hit .262 in August. He hit in five straight games from August 22-27 (8-for-21) before spraining his ankle running out a ground ball on August 27 at Baltimore. He did not start the next six games before starting on September 3. He started 24 games in August, all at third.
On September 6 against California, Leyritz was ejected after hitting an apparent first-inning two-run homer down the right-field line off Mark Langston. The ball was initially called fair by first base umpire Evans and then reversed by third base umpire Welke. Jim was ejected by home plate umpire Coble, with Mike Ferraro and Stump Merrill also getting thrown out. His fifth home run came on September 19 at Toronto, a three-run shot off Jim Acker.
After the break he hit .232, with three home runs and 17 RBIs. For the season, he started 85 games at third base (67), catcher (10), left field (7) and right field (1).
Jim made 13 errors in 1990 (3B-11, C-1, LF-1). His error in left field came on July 1 at Chicago, allowing the winning run to score in Andy Hawkins' no-hitter. The ERA of the Yankee pitching staff was 3.77 (74.0 IP, 31 ER) with Jim behind the plate. He threw out two of four base stealers and allowed four passed balls.
12 of his 25 RBIs came with two out. He hit .291 (30-for-103) against left-handed pitchers, .271 (23-for-85) in day games and .283 (13-for-46) on turf.
Jim was signed by the Yankee organization as a free agent by scout Bill Livesey on August 24, 1985. He began his pro career in 1986 with the Oneonta Yankees [short-season A New York-Penn League] and batted .363 with four home runs and 15 RBIs in 23 games. Jim was promoted to Ft. Lauderdale where he batted .294 in 12 games with a double and a triple.
He spent the 1987 season at Ft. Lauderdale and batted .307 in 102 games with 22 doubles, six homers and 51 RBIs. He played in the Florida State League All-Star Game and led FSL catchers in assists (76), double plays (7) and passed balls (25). Jim spent the 1988 season at Albany where he batted .241 in 112 games with 18 doubles and 49 RBIs.
Jim spent the 1989 season with Albany (AA) of the Eastern League. He led the league in hitting (.315) and on-base percentage (.423), ranked second on the team in hits (118) and RBIs (66) and had 10 home runs and 18 doubles. Jim had a five-hit game and was named to the Eastern League All-Star team (as a utility man). He played 67 of his 114 games as a catcher. A versatile player, he played three positions from 1986-89 (C-268, OF-30, 3B-17).
He attended Middle Georgia Junior College and the University of Kentucky. He played one year of baseball at Kentucky and hit .327 with 11 homers and 39 RBIs for the Wildcats. At Middle Georgia, he hit .387 with 17 homers and just 10 strikeouts in 231 career at-bats. Jim played Connie Mack and Babe Ruth baseball in Cincinnati.
Jim is involved with the Big Brothers, Big Sisters organization and the Harlem Kids organization."
-1992 New York Yankees Information Guide
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