Phillip Dale Leftwich (born May 19, 1969) is an American former professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

player who played three seasons for the

California Angels The Los Angeles Angels are an American professional baseball team based in the Greater Los Angeles area. The Angels compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West Division. Since 1966, the team has pl ...

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 ...

(MLB). He also played two seasons in

Nippon Professional Baseball is a professional baseball league and the highest level of baseball in Japan. Locally, it is often called , meaning simply ''Professional Baseball''; outside of Japan, NPB is often referred to as "Japanese baseball". The roots of the league ...

(NPB) for the

Osaka Kintetsu Buffaloes The were a Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) team based in Osaka, Japan, which was in the Pacific League. In 2005 the team was merged with the Orix BlueWave to become the team now known as the Orix Buffaloes. The team played in Fujiidera Stadi ...

Biography

Leftwich was born in

Lynchburg, Virginia Lynchburg is an independent city (United States), independent city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. First settled in 1757 by ferry owner and Abolitionism, abolitionist John Lynch (1740–1820), J ...

and graduated from Brookville High School in Lynchburg. He played

college baseball College baseball is baseball that is played by Student athlete, student-athletes at institutions of higher education. In the United States, college baseball is sanctioned mainly by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA); in Japan, ...

Radford University Radford University is a public university in Radford, Virginia, United States. It is one of the state's eight doctorate-granting public universities. Founded in 1910, Radford offers curricula for undergraduates in more than 100 fields, graduate ...

, where he was Radford University's first all-conference and all-state pitcher. In 1988 and 1989, he was named All-Big South. Leftwich was the first person to go into major league baseball from Radford University. In 1995 he was inducted into the Radford University Athletic Hall of Fame as part of its inaugural class. He was drafted by the California Angels in the 2nd round of the 1990 Major League Baseball draft 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

Leftwich was conceived in Virginia when his biological father,

Tom Timmermann Thomas Henry Timmermann (born May 12, 1940) is an American former baseball player. He played professional baseball for 15 years from 1960 to 1974, including six seasons in Major League Baseball as a pitcher for the Detroit Tigers (1969–1973) a ...

, was in town to play a road game against the

Richmond Braves The Richmond Braves were an American minor league baseball club based in Richmond, Virginia, the Triple-A International League affiliate of the Atlanta Braves from 1966 to 2008. Owned by the parent Atlanta club and colloquially referred to as the ...

. 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. Leftwich's son, Luke, was drafted by the

Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. The Phillies compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East Division. Since 2004, the team's home stadium has ...

organization in the seventh round of the 2015 draft, as the 204th overall pick. Luke spent 6 years with the Phillies and 1 year with the

Los Angeles Angels The Los Angeles Angels are an American professional baseball team based in the Greater Los Angeles, Greater Los Angeles area. The Angels compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League West, ...

References

External links

Radford University Hall of Fame
{{DEFAULTSORT:Leftwich, Phil 1969 births Living people American expatriate baseball players in Canada American expatriate baseball players in Japan Baseball players from Lynchburg, Virginia Boise Hawks players California Angels players Kintetsu Buffaloes players Lake Elsinore Storm players Major League Baseball pitchers Midland Angels players Osaka Kintetsu Buffaloes players Quad Cities Angels players Radford Highlanders baseball players Vancouver Canadians players American adoptees