| Rick Leach | |
|---|---|
 Leach from 1976Michiganensian | |
| Outfielder /First baseman | |
| Born: (1957-05-04)May 4, 1957 (age 68) Ann Arbor, Michigan, U.S. | |
Batted: Left Threw: Left | |
| MLB debut | |
| April 30, 1981, for the Detroit Tigers | |
| Last MLB appearance | |
| August 5, 1990, for the San Francisco Giants | |
| MLB statistics | |
| Batting average | .268 |
| Home runs | 18 |
| Runs batted in | 183 |
Stats atBaseball Reference  | |
| Teams | |
Richard Max Leach (born May 4, 1957) is an American formercollege football player and professionalbaseball player.
Leach was an all-statequarterback atFlint Southwestern High School in the fall of 1974, and theUniversity of Michigan's starting quarterback in four consecutive seasons (1975–1978), leading the Wolverines to three straightBig Ten Conference championships and three appearances in theRose Bowl. As a senior in 1978, he won theBig Ten Most Valuable Player, was selected as a first-teamAll-American, and finished third in the1978 balloting for theHeisman Trophy.
As a baseball player he was selected by theDetroit Tigers in the first round (13th overall) of the1979 MLB Draft.[1] Leach opted to play professional baseball over football, primarily a backupoutfielder andfirst baseman for the Tigers andToronto Blue Jays. He had a career .268batting average and .335on-base percentage in 1,719 major league at bats from 1981 to 1990.
Born in 1957 inAnn Arbor, Michigan,[2] Leach attendedFlint Southwestern High School inFlint and graduated in 1975.[2] As a senior, he was selected as the first-team all-state quarterback by theDetroit Free Press.[3] He broke every passing record in the Saginaw Valley League and was also an all-conference player in baseball and basketball.[4] In 1998, theDetroit Free Press rated Leach as the fourth best quarterback to come out of a Michigan high school.[5]
Leach enrolled at theUniversity of Michigan in 1975. A left-hander, he was theWolverines' startingquarterback from1975 through1978 under head coachBo Schembechler. As an 18-year-old true freshman, Leach started 11 of 12 games and led the Wolverines to an 8–2–2 record and #8 ranking in thefinal AP poll.[6] He rushed for 552 yards and passed for 680 yards as a freshman. With the Big Ten championship and aRose Bowl berth on the line in theMichigan-Ohio State game, Leach threw an interception that was run back to the Michigan 3-yard line by Buckeye cornerbackRay Griffin and set up the winning touchdown in a 21–14Ohio State victory.[7] However, Leach and the Wolverines never lost to Ohio State again in his career.
As a sophomore in1976, he started all 12 games at quarterback and led the team to a 10–2 record and #3 ranking in thefinal AP poll.[8] He passed for 973 yards and 13 touchdowns and rushed for 638 yards and 10 touchdowns in 1976.
As a junior, he started all twelve games at quarterback and led the1977 team to a 10–2 record and #9 ranking in thefinal AP poll.[9] He passed for 1,348 yards and 15 touchdowns and rushed for 375 yards and seven touchdowns.
As a senior in1978, he again started all twelve games and led Michigan to a 10–2 record and #5 ranking in thefinal AP poll.[10] He passed for 1,283 yards and 17 touchdowns and rushed for 611 yards and 12 touchdowns. Leach won numerous individual honors in 1978, including the following:
Leach was the first NCAA Division I (now FBS) player to pass for 200 points and score 200 points.[17] He continues to hold the NCAA record for highest percentage of passes fortouchdowns (400-499 attempts) with 45 in 462.[18] One of the finest athletes in Michigan history, Leach was named All-Big Ten as a quarterback three times and also placed in the voting for the Heisman Trophy three times.
Leach shattered all Michigan's career passing, total offense and touchdown records. He set an NCAA record for most touchdowns accounted for (82) and broke Big Ten records for total offense (6,460 yards), total plays (1,034), and touchdown passes (48).
A standout on the diamond as well as the gridiron, Leach won the Big Ten batting championship as a junior and won the rare honor of being namedAll-American in both football and baseball.
In 1999,Sports Illustrated published a list of "The 50 Greatest Sports Figures from Michigan" (in all sports), and ranked Leach 22nd. "The 50 Greatest Sports Figures from Michigan,"Sports Illustrated, December 27, 1999.
| Legend | |
|---|---|
| Led the Big Ten | |
| Big Ten record | |
| NCAA record | |
| Led the NCAA | |
| Bold | Career high |
| Season | School | Games | Cmp | Att | Yds | Pct | TD | INT | QBR | Car | Yds | Avg | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | Passing | Rushing | |||||||||||
| 1975 | Michigan | 12 | 32 | 100 | 680 | 32.0% | 3 | 12 | 75.0 | 113 | 552 | 4.9 | 5 |
| 1976 | Michigan | 12 | 50 | 105 | 973 | 47.6% | 13 | 8 | 151.1 | 114 | 638 | 5.6 | 10 |
| 1977 | Michigan | 11 | 76 | 147 | 1,109 | 51.7% | 13 | 7 | 134.7 | 106 | 370 | 3.5 | 7 |
| 1978 | Michigan | 12 | 78 | 158 | 1,283 | 49.4% | 17 | 6 | 145.5 | 145 | 611 | 4.2 | 12 |
| Career | Michigan | 47 | 236 | 510 | 4,045 | 46.3% | 46 | 33 | 129.7 | 478 | 2,171 | 4.5 | 34 |
* Includes bowl games.
Leach was selected by theDetroit Tigers in the first round (13th overall) of the1979 Major League Baseball Draft.[1][2] A month earlier at theNFL draft in early May, he was taken in thefifth round (132nd overall) by theDenver Broncos,[1] but opted for a career in baseball. He signed with the Tigers in June 1979 and received a$150,000 signing bonus.[20][21] Leach spent the 1979 season with theTigers' Class A farm club inLakeland, Florida; he appeared in 48 games and compiled a .304batting average and .402on-base percentage and had 23 RBIs in 168 at bats.[22] In 1980, Leach was promoted to theTigers' Class AAA team inEvansville, Indiana, where he had a .272 batting average and .386 on-base percentage with 58 RBIs in 430 at bats.[22]
After batting .386 for Evansville during April 1981, Leach was promoted to the Tigers' roster, making his major league debut in late April1981.[23] He appeared in 54 games and compiled a disappointing .193 batting average in 83 at bats.[2] Leach remained with the Tigers for two more seasons, principally in a backup role with batting averages of .239 in1982 and .248 in1983;[2] the Tigers released him on March 24,1984,[24] and was signed by theToronto Blue Jays less than two weeks later.
Leach spent April1984 and most of the1985 season with theTriple-ASyracuse Chiefs of theInternational League.[22] He was promoted to Toronto and remained on their roster through1988; his best season was1986, with a .309 batting average in 110 games.[2]
Leach concluded his major league career with theTexas Rangers in1989 and theSan Francisco Giants in1990.[2] During a road trip with Texas in May 1989 toNew York, Leach disappeared. The Rangers filed a missing persons report, and Leach reappeared a day later.[25][26][1] After a positive drug test in late July 1990 at age 33, Leach was placed on the 60-day disqualified list in August and agreed to enter drug rehabilitation.[27][28] In March1991, the Giants asked waivers on Leach for the purpose of giving him an unconditional release.[29]
In 2008, Leach was elected to theMichigan Sports Hall of Fame.[30]
· Baseball Almanac