Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, July 28, 1993 TAG: 9307280152
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RAY COX STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
After he came off the mound after the second inning, his manager, Max Olivares, asked him how he felt.
"Fine," said Leftwich, a right-hander who played for Radford University.
"You sure?" Olivares wanted to know.
"Yes, I'm sure," Leftwich said, puzzled. After all, he had struck out four of the six guys he faced and had two scoreless innings to his credit.
"You're out of the game," he was told.
This about blew Leftwich's mind.
"Maybe I looked worse than I thought," he said.
Olivares couldn't continue.
"You need some rest. You're pitching in Anaheim Thursday."
And that's how Leftwich found out he was going to be pitching for the California Angels before the end of the week. He and wife, Ann, are driving to California this morning to report.
Leftwich will be facing the Oakland Athletics in his first major-league start. Leftwich, a graduate of Brookville High School in Lynchburg, is believed to be the first Radford alumnus to play in a major U.S. professional league.
Leftwich started the season in Vancouver and then got hot. When he was called up, he had a 7-7 record with a 4.64 earned run average - down from over 7.00 earlier in the year. He also had struck out 102 batters in 126 innings.
"The difference between now and earlier in is I've managed to stay away from the big inning," he said by telephone from Scottsdale, Ariz., Tuesday night.
It's all happened rather quickly for Leftwich, who went 6-8 with a 5.88 ERA at Class AA Midland in 1992.
"After last year, I'm not sure this was ever going to happen," he said.
Keywords:
BASEBALL
by CNB