Rick Leach (baseball)

Rick Leach
Leach from 1976 Michiganensian
Outfielder / First baseman
Born: (1957-05-04) May 4, 1957 (age 67)
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 runs18
Runs batted in183
Teams

Richard Max Leach (born May 4, 1957) is an American former college football player and professional baseball player.

Leach was an all-state quarterback at Flint Southwestern High School in the fall of 1974, and the University of Michigan's starting quarterback in four consecutive seasons (1975–1978), leading the Wolverines to three straight Big Ten Conference championships and three appearances in the Rose Bowl. As a senior in 1978, he won the Big Ten Most Valuable Player, was selected as a first-team All-American, and finished third in the 1978 balloting for the Heisman Trophy.

As a baseball player he was selected by the Detroit Tigers in the first round (13th overall) of the 1979 MLB Draft.[1] Leach opted to play professional baseball over football, primarily a backup outfielder and first baseman for the Tigers and Toronto Blue Jays. He he had a career .268 batting average and .335 on-base percentage in 1,719 major league at bats from 1981 to 1990.

  1. ^ "Leach Tigers' top draft pick". Toledo Blade. (Ohio). Associated Press. June 6, 1979. p. 56.