Hal Leathers

Harold Langford Leathers (December 2, 1898 – April 12, 1977) was a professional baseball middle infielder who played in nine games for the 1920 Chicago Cubs of Major League Baseball (MLB). Listed at 5 feet 8 inches (1.73 m) and 152 pounds (69 kg), he batted left-handed and threw right-handed.

Hal Leathers
Leathers in the minor leagues, 1923
Shortstop / Second baseman
Born: (1898-12-02)December 2, 1898
Selma, California, US
Died: April 12, 1977(1977-04-12) (aged 78)
Modesto, California, US
Batted: Left[lower-alpha 1]
Threw: Right
MLB debut
September 13, 1920, for the Chicago Cubs
Last MLB appearance
October 2, 1920, for the Chicago Cubs
Career statistics
Batting average.304
Home runs1
Runs batted in0[lower-alpha 2]
Teams

Biography

Leathers' minor league baseball career spanned 1918 to 1924, plus a final season in 1926.[2] He appeared in 778 minor league games, compiling a .253 batting average.[2] Defensively, he played 480 games as a shortstop and 142 games as a second baseman.[2]

From mid-September to early October 1920, Leathers appeared in nine major league games with the Chicago Cubs.[3] He registered a .304 batting average (7-for-23) with one home run,[3][lower-alpha 2] which was hit off of Joe Oeschger of the Boston Braves.[5][6] Defensively, Leathers made six appearances at shortstop (four starts) and three appearances at second base, recording an .837 fielding percentage.[7] He committed three errors in his first major league start at shortstop,[8] one of which led to an unearned run, the difference in a 1–0 Cubs loss to the Brooklyn Robins.[9][10]

Leathers was born in 1898 in Selma, California.[3][11] As of February 1942, he was living in Los Angeles and was self-employed as a gardener.[11] He died in 1977 in Modesto, California, and was interred in Hughson, California.[3]

Notes
  1. Leathers was listed as a switch hitter in the Cubs' 1921 pre-season roster.[1]
  2. Somehow, official baseball records of the era do not credit him with a run batted in (RBI) for his home run,[3] creating a discrepancy in his MLB career record.[4] For an overview of discrepancies in historical baseball records, see this discussion at Retrosheet.

References
  1. "Chicago Cubs' Roster for 1921". Brooklyn Standard Union. March 23, 1921. p. 13. Retrieved August 6, 2020 – via newspapers.com.
  2. "Hal Leathers Minor Leagues Statistics & History". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved August 6, 2020.
  3. "Hal Leathers". Retrosheet. Retrieved August 6, 2020.
  4. "Discrepancy File for Hal Leathers". Retrosheet. Retrieved August 6, 2020.
  5. "Boston Braves 4, Chicago Cubs 2". Retrosheet. September 21, 1920. Retrieved August 6, 2020.
  6. O'Leary, James C. (September 22, 1920). "Braves Beat Cubs in Last of Series". The Boston Globe. p. 11. Retrieved August 6, 2020 – via newspapers.com.
  7. "Hal Leathers Stats". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved August 6, 2020.
  8. "The 1920 CHI N Regular Season Fielding Log for Hal Leathers". Retrosheet. Retrieved August 6, 2020.
  9. "Thanks to Harold Leathers". Brooklyn Daily Eagle. September 16, 1920. p. 22. Retrieved August 6, 2020 – via newspapers.com.
  10. "Brooklyn Robins 1, Chicago Cubs 0". Retrosheet. September 15, 1920. Retrieved August 6, 2020.
  11. "Draft Registration Card". Selective Service System. February 1942. Retrieved August 6, 2020 – via fold3.com.
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