1994 Profile: Jim Leyritz

"Jim Leyritz has no problem extolling his virtues on a baseball diamond. If fact, he downright enjoys it.

He made his way through the Yankees' minor league system with an extra skip in his step, daring you to knock the chip off his shoulder. At every minor league level, he took on the challenge and passed. He stepped to the plate with his swagger, his hips gyrating, and watched his base hits fall to all parts of the field. He begged for the opportunity to face major league pitching.

Four years after trying on the Yankee Pinstripes for the first time, Leyritz has indeed proved he belongs in the bigs. The infielder-outfielder-catcher hit .309 with 14 home runs and 53 RBIs in only 95 games in 1993. He played a solid first base in place of the injured Don Mattingly; covered the outfield dutifully when called upon; and was his confident self behind the plate when Mike Stanley and Matt Nokes needed a rest.

'Everybody laughed when I said I could hit 20 homers and knock in 80 runs,' says Leyritz. 'But everything I said from the beginning I think I pretty much backed up.'

Leyritz is now pining for a full-time job, somewhere, anywhere, on the diamond. Play him anywhere on the diamond and he will produce. Just ask him."

-The New York Yankees Official 1994 Yearbook

"Leyritz had the best season of his career in 1993. He hit .309 with 14 home runs and 53 RBIs, all career highs. One of the Yankees' most versatile players, he played first base, catcher, left field, right field and as the designated hitter.

He was the Yankees' best hitter in April, batting .484 with four homers and 12 RBIs. In that month Leyritz made six starts at DH and on April 25 at Seattle made his first major league start at first base. In his first five games he hit .571 with three home runs and eight RBIs. Jim hit his first major league grand slam on April 9 at Chicago off Bobby Thigpen, then homered in consecutive games on April 16 and 18 at Texas.

Jim hit .315 with five homers and 16 RBIs in 23 games, when his playing time increased after Don Mattingly went on the disabled list with a rib cage injury and made 12 of his 17 starts in May at first. The five homers were his career high for a single month. Jim homered in consecutive games against Chicago on May 28 and 29.

From May 25-June 4 he had a career high 10-game hitting streak, raising his batting average from .346 to .375. During the streak he made eight starts at first base, one in right field as one as DH.

Jim hit .275 with two homers and five RBIs in June, starting in 14 games. On June 1 against Cleveland he hit his career high eighth home run off Jose Mesa. From June 5-26 he went 2-for-23 (.087), dropping his average from .375 to .326. He went 0-for-15 from June 4-8, his longest hitless streak of the season.

On June 10 at Milwaukee, Jim was hit on the left wrist by a pitch thrown by Ricky Bones. At that time he was hitting .336 with eight home runs and 30 RBIs. For the rest of the season, after being hit by that pitch, he hit .282 with six homers and 23 RBIs.

In July and August, Leyritz hit .234 with no home runs and three RBIs, dropping his batting average from .340 to .308. In August he made nine of his 11 starts in right field.

In September and October he hit .314 with five home runs and 17 RBIs. The 17 RBIs were his career high for a single month. Leyritz homered in three consecutive games on September 11, 12 and 15. He hit three-run home runs in consecutive games on September 26 and 27.

Leyritz showed his versatility by appearing in 12 games at catcher, 29 games at first, 28 in the outfield and 21 as the designated hitter. He had 72 starts, including 24 at first base, 21 in right field, 18 as designated hitter, five in left field and three as catcher. He made just two errors all season, both at first base. Yankee pitchers posted a 4.25 ERA in his games as a catcher. New York went 3-0 in his three starts behind the plate, and he threw out one of four baserunners trying to steal. As a DH Leyritz hit .290 with four homers and 13 RBIs in 21 games, and as a pinch hitter went 4-for-13 (.308) with five RBIs.

He hit six solo home runs, three two-run homers, four three-run homers and his only career grand slam. He also had an infield hit and a bunt single. Jim three times homered in consecutive games and once homered in three consecutive games. In the batting order he usually hit second (.320), fourth (.296) or fifth (.467).

Leyritz hit .333 with runners in scoring position, including .394 with runners in scoring position with less than two out, and went 3-for-11 (.273) with a home run and six RBIs with the bases loaded. He hit .417 in 30 day games.

His contract is signed through the 1994 season.

In 1992, Leyritz saw action at five positions, plus designated hitter. He hit .257 with seven home runs and 26 RBIs in 144 at-bats and 63 games.

He appeared in five April games, making two starts, both behind the plate. On April 6 at Toronto, he hit his first home run in his sixth at-bat of the season.

He made the most of his limited playing time in May, hitting .409 (9-for-22) with two doubles, two homers and six RBIs. His big game came on May 4 at Seattle, going 3-for-4 with a home run (off Russ Swan) and a career best-tying four RBIs. Jim was hitting.367 with three homers in 30 at-bats through the end of May.

On June 13 at Cleveland, he hit a game-winning sixth-inning home run (off Dave Otto), then on June 18 at Boston delivered a game-winning sacrifice fly in the 7th, both times winning the game for Melido Perez. Jim went 3-for-4 on June 24 at Kansas City, making his second career start in right field.  He was hitting .303 on July 1, the last time he would be hitting .300 during the season, and was hitting .263 with five homers and 16 RBIs at the break.

Jim hit just .108 in July, then .233 in August. He had a season long five-game hitting streak from August 29-September 14. He rebounded at bat in September, hitting .462 (6-for-13) with a pair of homers, raising his batting average from .237 to a season-ending .257. His home runs came in back-to-back games against Kansas City (Mike Magnante) and Chicago (Wilson Alvarez). Jim hit .250 with two home runs and 10 RBIs in 64 at-bats after the break.

He hit his seven home runs in 144 at-bats (1:21 AB) after hitting five home runs in 380 major league at-bats (1:76) prior to 1992. He reached base safely in 32 of his 42 starts, hitting .273 (35-for-128) with seven homers and 23 RBIs. Jim drove in seven of eight runners from third base with less than two out and was 2-for-9 with seven RBIs with the bases loaded. Jim hit .245 with five homers against left-handed pitchers and .286 with two homers against righties. He hit .351 (13-for-37) on turf.

He started 42 games overall in 1992 (DH-26, C-13, RF-2, 3B-1) and also played first and second. He made one error all year, as a catcher, throwing out nine of 24 runners attempting to steal (38%). The Yankees were 3-10 when he started behind the plate and the pitching staff's ERA was 4.51.

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.

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 (AA) of the Eastern League where he batted .241 in 112 games with 18 doubles and 49 RBIs.

Jim spent the 1989 season with Albany. He led the league in hitting (.315), on-base percentage (.423) and hit-by-pitches (9), 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 against the London Tigers 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).

 Jim played third base, outfield and caught while hitting .257 for the Yankees with five home runs and 25 RBIs. He hit .291 against left-handed pitchers.

Jim started the 1990 season with the AAA Columbus 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 Columbus 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 at third base on June 10, also at Baltimore, going 2-for-3. 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  From July 12-August 27 he started 42 of the club's 47 games at third base. He hit in five straight games from August 22-27 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.

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.

Leyritz started the 1991 season with the Yankees before being optioned to the Clippers on May 17. He appeared in 11 April games, made three starts and went 1-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.

He started eight games in May, all at third, and went 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 after the recall 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 International League 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.

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."

-1994 New York Yankees Information Guide

Led Florida State League catchers in assists (76), 1987.

Led Florida State League catchers in double plays (7), 1987.

Led Florida State League catchers in double plays (25), 1987.

Named to Florida State League All-Star team (catcher), 1987.

Tied for Eastern League batting title (.315), 1989.

Led Eastern League in on-base percentage (.423), 1989.

Led Eastern League in being hit by a pitch (9), 1989.

Named to Eastern League All-Star team (utility man), 1989.

-1994 New York Yankees Information Guide 

James Joseph Leyritz "Jim" "Ritz" (C)     #13

Born December 27, 1963, in Lakewood, Ohio, resides in Plantation, Florida. Height: 6-0, weight: 195. Bats right, throws right.

Married, Andrea (11/11/89). Attended Middle Georgia Junior College and the University of Kentucky.

Major league service time: 3 years, 6 days. Opening Day age: 30.

-1994 New York Yankees Information Guide