Curtis Leskanic

From SoSH

Curtis Leskanic (born April 2, 1968 in Homestead, Pennsylvania) wore the number 30 for the Boston Red Sox as a right-handed relief pitcher during the 2004 season. He was signed by the Sox on June 22, 2004, after being released by the Kansas City Royals.

Contents 1 Overall Career 2 Leskanic's Moment in the Sun 3 Trivia 4 Transactions 5 External Links

Overall Career

Often referred to as "The Bullpen Mechanic", Leskanic's career in the majors started in 1993 with the Colorado Rockies, and he retired following the 2004 season. Over his career, he pitched in 603 regular season games, recording 641 strikeouts, a record of 50-34, 55 saves, and an ERA of 4.36. He appeared in the post-season twice, pitching in three games while with Colorado in the 1995 post-season, and three games with Boston in the 2004 ALCS. His career postseason stats include 6 strikeouts over 5 2/3 innings of work, and a 1-1 record.

Leskanic returned to the Red Sox organization in July 2007 as a pro scouting consultant.

Leskanic's Moment in the Sun

Curt Leskanic will always be remembered by Red Sox fans for the last pitching performance of his career. It came in Game 4 of the storied 2004 ALCS. Dave Roberts had already made The Steal in the ninth inning to keep the Red Sox from being swept by the New York Yankees, and they were still tied going into the eleventh inning. Alan Embree, who had pitched a scoreless tenth inning, got two outs in the inning, but not before Miguel Cairo had made it to second base, and intentionally walking Gary Sheffield. With Hideki Matsui coming up to bat, Mike Myers was brought in to get out the lefty. However, Myers walked Matsui to load the bases, and next to bat was "Mr. October" Bernie Williams.

Curt Leskanic was called in to try to get the Red Sox out of the 11th and keep their postseason dreams alive. Red Sox fans had more than a little worry about seeing Leskanic come in to try to work out of the jam; his last appearance in Game 3 saw him face four batters and only record one out, while giving up three earned runs. He was sometimes known by Red Sox fans during the regular season as "Curtis Let's Panic." But with a depleted bullpen from the previous game, and the current game stretching into the early hours of the October morning, he was all they had left.

His first pitch was a strike, and he caught Williams looking. On the next pitch, Williams made contact, but it was a fly out to center fielder Johnny Damon. Inning over.

The bottom of the eleventh saw Johnny Damon reach second base on a steal, but Orlando Cabrera couldn't drive him home. Leskanic would come back out to pitch the twelth. The 36-year old was running on fumes, and was three outs from finishing his career. The first batter, Jorge Posada singled to right. Next up, Ruben Sierra, hit into a fielder's choice on a 2-1 count, and Posada advanced to second. With a man in scoring position, Leskanic buckled down and got Tony Clark to fly out to left, and struck out Miguel Cairo to end the inning. Two batters into the bottom of the twelfth, "Senor Octobre" David Ortiz would hit a 2-run home run to win Game 4 for the Red Sox, allowing them to advance on to eventually win the World Series, and give Curtis Leskanic his first postseason win.

On April 11, 2005, Leskanic would return to Fenway Park to receive his World Series ring. He was received with a standing ovation, as did all members of the 2004 Boston Red Sox. Johnny Pesky greeted him during the ring ceremony by saying, "Leskanic! You son of a bitch"

Trivia

• After being taunted by fans while warming up in the bullpen during his time with the Milwaukee Brewers, Leskanic once yelled back, "Hey, I don't yell at you when you come pick up my garbage!"

Transactions

• June 5, 1989: Drafted by the Cleveland Indians in the 8th round of the 1989 amateur draft. Player signed August 12, 1989.
• March 28, 1992: Traded by the Cleveland Indians with Oscar Munoz to the Minnesota Twins for Paul Sorrento.
• November, 17, 1992: Drafted by the Colorado Rockies from the Minnesota Twins as the 66th pick in the 1992 Expansion Draft.
• November 17, 1999: Traded by the Colorado Rockies to the Milwaukee Brewers for Mike Myers.
• July 10, 2003: Traded by the Milwaukee Brewers to the Kansas City Royals for Wes Obermueller and Alejandro Machado.
• October 29, 2003: Granted Free Agency.
• December 1, 2003: Signed as a Free Agent with the Kansas City Royals.
• June 18, 2004: Released by the Kansas City Royals.
• June 22, 2004: Signed as a Free Agent with the Boston Red Sox.
• November 1, 2004: Granted Free Agency.

External Links

• Baseball-Reference.com - Career Statistics and Analysis