Phillip Dale Leftwich (born May 19, 1969) is an American former professional baseball player who played three seasons for the California Angels of Major League Baseball (MLB). He also played two seasons in Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) for the Osaka Kintetsu Buffaloes.

Phil Leftwich
Pitcher
Born: (1969-05-19) May 19, 1969 (age 55)
Lynchburg, Virginia, U.S.
Batted: Right
Threw: Right
Professional debut
MLB: July 29, 1993, for the California Angels
NPB: April 17, 1998, for the Kintetsu Buffaloes
Last appearance
MLB: May 6, 1996, for the California Angels
NPB: September 5, 1999, for the Osaka Kintetsu Buffaloes
MLB statistics
Win–loss record9–17
Earned run average4.99
Strikeouts102
NPB statistics
Win–loss record7–10
Earned run average5.03
Strikeouts90
Stats at Baseball Reference Edit this at Wikidata
Teams

Biography

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Leftwich was born in Lynchburg, Virginia and graduated from Brookville High School in Lynchburg. He played college baseball at Radford University, where he was Radford University's first all-conference and all-state pitcher. In 1988 and 1989, he was named All-Big South.[1]

Leftwich was the first person to go into major league baseball from Radford University.[1] In 1995 he was inducted into the Radford University Athletic Hall of Fame as part of its inaugural class.[2]

He was drafted by the California Angels in the 2nd round of the 1990 Major League Baseball draft[3] and in the 1st round of the Yogi’s Bar & Grill fantasy league draft in 1994. Leftwich played his first MLB game on July 29, 1993.

Personal

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Luke Leftwich pitching for the Lakewood BlueClaws in 2016

Leftwich was conceived in Virginia when his biological father, Tom Timmermann, was in town to play a road game against the Richmond Braves. He was placed for adoption to a local couple. He first learned of his adoption at age 23, tracked down his father and established a relationship.[4]

Leftwich's son, Luke, was drafted by the Philadelphia Phillies organization in the seventh round of the 2015 draft, as the 204th overall pick.[5] Luke spent 6 years with the Phillies and 1 year with the Los Angeles Angels.[6]

References

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  1. ^ a b "Radford Major League Baseball Players". The Official Home of Radford Athletics. Retrieved December 10, 2012.
  2. ^ "100 Moments in Radford Athletics History". The Official Home of Radford Athletics. Retrieved December 10, 2012.
  3. ^ "Phil Leftwich Stats, Height, Weight, Position, Rookie Status & More". Baseball-Reference.com. Sports Reference. Retrieved February 3, 2023.
  4. ^ Breen, Matt (May 9, 2019). "Phillies prospect Luke Leftwich could make major-league history thanks to dad's family discovery". Philadelphia Inquirer. Retrieved February 3, 2023.
  5. ^ "Leftwich earns own way onto Phillies' radar". MLB.com.
  6. ^ "Luke Leftwich Stats, Fantasy & News".
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