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| Mets P Al Leiter |
Left-hander AL LEITER broke into MLB in '87 with the Yankees. He has won three World Series rings (two with the Blue Jays and one with the Marlins) and 145 games, posting double-figure victory totals in nine straight seasons, including the last six with the Mets. He spoke recently about his pursuits on and off the field with SportsBusiness Journal New York bureau chief Jerry Kavanagh.
Q. How do you assess the state of the game today?
Leiter: I think baseball is absolutely in a renaissance explosion. And it couldn't be at a better time for us to have grown the game the way we are. The Players' Association and baseball have never been closer, and the leadership in the game is to be commended. Sometimes I think we hear more negatives than positives, but I see a lot of positives.
Q. What's the best thing about sports?
Leiter: I have yet to meet a teammate, or even an athlete from another sport, who is not highly competitive. And I know after 20 years professionally -- 15 or 16 years in the major leagues -- what continues to drive my love for the game is to compete at the pinnacle of my industry. To face the greatest players in the world and make quality pitches to get them out. It's a rush. It's a tremendous degree of satisfaction, even in the smallest battles. As a player, my perspective is about competition and winning. And it has to be [the same] as a fan. And I would say sports is encompassed by the desire to watch competition at its best with the feeling of euphoria or sorrow with a win or a loss next to your team.
Q. Most fans can identify with competition.
Leiter: My teammate DAVID WEATHERS is a huge Alabama Crimson Tide fan. We're working out in the weight room today at Port St. Lucie. He comes in real quietly, turns off the radio and flips on this tape and blasts the "Roll, Tide" fight song. He's feeling it with the excitement of Alabama beating Syracuse [in the NCAA basketball tournament]. As a fan, Dave Weathers was watching the game in a competitive way.
Q. ROY CAMPANELLA once said something to the effect that you've got to be a man to play this game, but you've also got to have a lot of little boy in you.
Leiter: True. It wasn't until last year that I was made aware of something by my teammate JAY BELL. For all the many years I've been playing, I've always referred to myself as a grown man, a husband and a father, who's playing a boys' game. And Jay Bell said, "No, it was formed and organized by grown men. Kids play a man's game, baseball."
Q. A number of sluggers now point skyward after hitting a home run. Does God favor the hitters?
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| Leiter Not A Fan Of Home
Run Hitters Pointing Skyward |
Leiter: I don't know. I don't like it. I'm not in favor of that. If you're a religious person, I think you can express it quietly before the game or after the game. I think, if anything else, it might be a routine where a guy pointed to the sky because he got a big hit and then the next time he got the hit he's probably thinking, "Gee, I pointed at the sky the last time and that's why I got the hit this time; let me point again." We are definitely creatures of habit.
Q. The composer John Cage said, "I can't understand why people are frightened of new ideas. I'm frightened of the old ones." What's the worst old idea in baseball?
Leiter: The worst old idea is that if you have to have some sort of sports psychologist to help you, [it means] you are mentally weak or not mentally tough. That is absolutely ignorant and old school and, quite frankly, those people don't know what they're talking about.
Q. What's the best new idea in baseball?
Leiter: I think BUD SELIG has been able to move the game forward. As a player who really kind of sees what has transpired, ... so much has developed and improved the game. Bud has done a great job just to organize and provide the leadership of 30 individual successful men who made their fortunes in other businesses. The idea of the wild card and the three divisions and the ability now for the Players' Association to have a much better dialogue with central baseball. It definitely was very influential for us to not have a stoppage in the negotiations. I think Bud doesn't get enough credit for it.
Q. Selig, in the New York Times, said, "In discussions with Al, I'm always fascinated with his wanting to learn." In the same article, you said, "I'm interested in a lot of things ballplayers don't usually talk about."
Leiter: I am interested in a lot of things. Look, we're only awake for 12 or 14 hours a day. Why not! The days are kickin'. We're getting older. I'm in a position of doing some really fun, creative, interesting things that are presented to me because I'm a baseball player. I was good at what I did -- to throw a little white ball -- and that opportunity has afforded me and my family a nice life, a great life. There's the residual business possibilities that fly around. You can either (a) turn your back to them because you're not interested, or (b) say, "I'm getting an opportunity to sit down with" ... whomever. Ask questions! In my world you meet some very interesting people: entertainers, business people, intellectuals. I like to engage in conversation. It's the simplest form of human behavior. And I think a lot of people lack the skill of simply communicating. But it's given me opportunities. A politician wants me to campaign ... why not? Why not get on the back of a truck with MAYOR BLOOMBERG. I stand behind most of his ideas as a Republican. Or to listen to TONY PONTURO talk, or DAVE D'ALESSANDRO, or GEORGE WILL. It's about engaging.
Q. SAMUEL JOHNSON called curiosity one of the permanent and certain characteristics of a vigorous mind.
Leiter: It is a real curiosity. I've been accused of that, even as a child. I would always poke around and ask questions. I probably get on a lot of people's nerves, but after a while it's fun to talk about. What do people talk about?
Q. Let's talk about some of your interests outside baseball. You have embraced some of those business opportunities. RUDY GIULIANI appointed you to the Twin Towers Fund (which helps the families of city rescue workers killed on Sept. 11). Mayor Bloomberg put you on the board of the city's tourism agency. You and your wife established a charitable organization for children in need (Leiter's Landing). That's a busy schedule.
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| Extracurricular Activities Have
Not Slowed Leiter's Performance |
Leiter: Yes, it is. But as a pitcher who starts 30-34 times a year out of six months, I have time to either not do much or do a lot. And I choose to do more than perhaps others. It doesn't affect my work when I get to the stadium. And it certainly doesn't affect my physical or mental preparation for my given starts. And, again, it's about opportunity. If Mayor Bloomberg wants me to read a proclamation on his behalf because he's not able to get down to Chelsea Piers, of course I'm going to do it for him. Or if Rudy [Giuliani] asks me to be on the Twin Towers board, of course. It's giving back. It's me being appreciative of everything I have because of my ability to throw a baseball.
Q. It's a big community.
Leiter: I feel that not only am I helping others, but it's the right thing to do. And certainly the right thing to do to show your children and other kids that people care. I did some research and was fascinated with how much is donated. I don't know if you know this, and I don't want to bore you, but $240B was donated to various charities in 2002. There are 1.4 million charities in the U.S. alone. The average contribution per family that files a 1040 tax return is $3,400. Seventy-five percent of Americans donate something. If everybody kind of does their little bit, whether it's 20 bucks or whether it's on a weekend you go to a local shelter and hand out food, you make a difference. It's not about cutting a check for a million bucks or diving headfirst into some major cause. No. Not true. Do your little share. You're making society a better place as a result of it.
Q. Smartest player in the game?
Leiter: I would have to say watching GREG MADDUX with good stuff but not great stuff. For him to be 11 wins away from [300 and] the Hall of Fame, and knowing that I know what he knows as far as preparation, he would be very high on the list of smartest players. JOE MCEWING on my team is a really smart player. He understands the team aspect and doing the little things within the ballclub.
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| Leiter Tabs Morris As Greatest Competitor |
Q. Greatest competitor?
Leiter: JACK MORRIS. I always thought when he got the ball, you knew that he was coming at you whether he had his good stuff or not. Jack would compete. ANDY PETTITTE competes. You can see it in every pitch: the effort and the sweat, the grind and the grunt. He's coming at you.
Q. Favorite sporting event?
Leiter: March Madness. I like the whole NCAA basketball tournament. I haven't liked the Super Bowl, but the last two years, you have to admit, they've had great games.
Q. You played basketball and football in high school and ran track. Can baseball learn anything from the other sports?
Leiter: Sure. The biggest thing, the common denominator, is balance and being in control of your footwork and your movement. Every single sport has it whether it's the quarterback with his step-back drop or a basketball player and his jump shot. Certainly in track your form is important, as it is in baseball. It's really about your ability to be in position to maximize the torque and the angles that your body provides in order to perform. And I know as a pitcher the angles and the physics of it are very important, not only for health but also for maximum velocity and consistency with location and command.
Q. What are you reading?
Leiter: "The Da Vinci Code" was an interesting book. But I'm more of a biography guy. Not the self-help stuff, but I like the leadership-type biography. I liked PAT RILEY's book about winning and Rudy Giuliani's book about leadership.
Q. Favorite sportswriter?
Leiter: I don't know if we're allowed to have favorites, but let's see. He's not a sportswriter anymore, but I liked MICHAEL KAY. He was always extremely fair and continues to be fair. When I first broke in with the Yankees, he was the beat writer for the Post and then he went to the Daily News. DAVE WALDSTEIN with the Star-Ledger is really fair. I've always enjoyed him. He's covered the Mets since I've been here.
Q. Favorite piece of music?
Leiter: BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN's music.
Q. Favorite actress?
Leiter: JULIA ROBERTS
Q. Favorite movie?
Leiter: "The Shawshank Redemption" and "Forrest Gump."
Q. What's a typical day off like? You do get a day off, don't you?
Leiter: We get one every 17 days. It would definitely be family-related. If school's not in, it would be to take in a movie or go to the park or the beach, or just to get outside with some kind of activity with my family.
