Leslie Charles Spikes (born January 23, 1951) is an American former

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to catch ...

who played from 1972 through 1980 for the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Am ...

Cleveland Indians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. Since , the team ...

Detroit Tigers The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. One of the AL's eight chart ...

, and

Atlanta Braves The Atlanta Braves are an American professional baseball team based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Braves compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Eas ...

. He also played 26 games for the

Chunichi Dragons The are a professional baseball team based in Nagoya, the chief city in the Chūbu region of Japan. The team plays in the Central League of Nippon Professional Baseball. They have won the Central League pennant nine times (most recently in 2011 ...

in Japan in 1981. His playing career nickname was "the Bogalusa Bomber". Spikes was drafted in the first round of the 1969 Major League Baseball Draft by the Yankees. He made his major league debut with the Yankees in 1972. He, along with John Ellis,

Rusty Torres Rosendo "Rusty" Torres Hernández (born September 30, 1948) is a Puerto Rican former professional baseball outfielder. He played all or part of nine seasons in Major League Baseball for five different teams. In an odd coincidence, Torres happene ...

and Jerry Kenney, was traded from the Yankees to the Indians for

Graig Nettles Graig Nettles (born August 20, 1944), nicknamed "Puff", is an American former Major League Baseball third baseman. During a 22-year baseball career, he played for the Minnesota Twins (1967–1969), Cleveland Indians (1970–1972), New York Yankee ...

and Jerry Moses at the

Winter Meetings Representatives of all 30 Major League Baseball teams and their 120 Minor League Baseball affiliates convene for four days each December in the Winter Meetings to discuss league business and conduct off-season trades and transactions. Attendees in ...

on November 27, 1972. His best season was in 1974 for the Indians, when he hit .271 with 22 home runs and 80 RBI. He played for the Indians through the 1977 season. He was dealt to the Tigers for Tom Veryzer at the Winter Meetings on December 9, 1977.Durso, Joseph. "Yanks Sign Eastwick to 5-Year Pact," ''The New York Times'', Saturday, December 10, 1977.
Retrieved October 22, 2020

References

External links

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SABR Biography Project

1951 births Living people African-American baseball players American expatriate baseball players in Japan Atlanta Braves players Baseball players from Louisiana Chunichi Dragons players Cleveland Indians players Detroit Tigers players Evansville Triplets players Fort Lauderdale Yankees players Grambling State Tigers baseball players Johnson City Yankees players Kinston Eagles players Major League Baseball left fielders Major League Baseball right fielders Sportspeople from Bogalusa, Louisiana New York Yankees players Tigres de Aragua players American expatriate baseball players in Venezuela Toledo Mud Hens players West Haven Yankees players 21st-century African-American sportsmen 20th-century African-American sportsmen {{US-baseball-outfielder-1950s-stub