Richard Fred Luecken (born November 15, 1960) is an American former professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding ...

relief pitcher In baseball and softball, a relief pitcher or reliever is a pitcher who enters the game after the starting pitcher is removed because of fatigue, ineffectiveness, injury, or ejection, or for other strategic reasons, such as inclement weather d ...

. He played in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL) ...

(MLB) for the

Kansas City Royals The Kansas City Royals are an American professional baseball team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Royals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team was founded as an expa ...

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 (NL) East division. The Braves were founded in B ...

and

Toronto Blue Jays The Toronto Blue Jays are a Canadian professional baseball team based in Toronto. The Blue Jays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Since 1989, the team has played its home games ...

Career

Luecken attended

Texas A&M University Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, or TAMU) is a public, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of the Texas A&M University System in 1948. As of late 2021, T ...

, and in 1982 he played

collegiate summer baseball Collegiate summer baseball leagues are amateur baseball leagues in the United States and Canada featuring players who have attended at least one year of college and have at least one year of athletic eligibility remaining. Generally, they operate ...

with the

Orleans Cardinals The Orleans Firebirds, formerly the Orleans Cardinals, are a collegiate summer baseball team based in Orleans, Massachusetts. The team is a member of the Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL) and plays in the league's East Division. The Firebirds play t ...

of the

Cape Cod Baseball League The Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL or Cape League) is a collegiate summer baseball wooden bat league located on Cape Cod in the U.S. state of Massachusetts. One of the nation's premier collegiate summer leagues, the league boasts over one thous ...

. He was selected by the

Seattle Mariners The Seattle Mariners are an American professional baseball team based in Seattle. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. The team joined the American League as an expansion team ...

in the 27th round of the 1983 MLB Draft. Luecken pitched four seasons in the Mariners

Minor League Minor leagues are professional sports leagues which are not regarded as the premier leagues in those sports. Minor league teams tend to play in smaller, less elaborate venues, often competing in smaller cities/markets. This term is used in N ...

system before being traded along with

Danny Tartabull Danilo Tartabull Mora (born October 30, 1962) is a Cuban– Puerto Rican former professional baseball right fielder and designated hitter. He played 14 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Seattle Mariners (1984–1986), Kansas City R ...

to Kansas City in exchange for

Scott Bankhead Michael Scott Bankhead (born July 31, 1963) is an American former professional baseball pitcher who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from -. Bankhead also pitched for Team USA in the 1984 Olympic Games. He attended the University of North ...

Mike Kingery Michael Scott Kingery (born March 29, 1961), is a former professional baseball player who played in the Major Leagues, primarily as an outfielder, from 1986–1992 and 1994–1996. Kingery's career high for home runs in a season was 9, set in 198 ...

and Steve Shields. In 1989, Luecken posted a 2-1 record with one save and a 3.42

earned run average In baseball statistics, earned run average (ERA) is the average of earned runs allowed by a pitcher per nine innings pitched (i.e. the traditional length of a game). It is determined by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the numb ...

in 19 relief appearances with the Royals. Before the 1990 season, Luecken was traded along with

Charlie Leibrandt Charles Louis Leibrandt, Jr. (; born October 4, 1956) is a former Major League Baseball pitcher who played from 1979 to 1993 for the Cincinnati Reds, Kansas City Royals, Atlanta Braves, and Texas Rangers. Leibrandt was a productive pitcher th ...

to Atlanta for

Gerald Perry Gerald June Perry (born October 30, 1960) is an American former professional baseball first baseman. He played from 1983 to 1995 for the Atlanta Braves, Kansas City Royals and St. Louis Cardinals of Major League Baseball (MLB). Career In 1988, ...

and one minor leaguer. He went 1-4 with a 5.77 ERA in 36 games and was traded by the Braves late in the year to Toronto.

References

External links

Rick Luecken
at The Baseball Gauge
Venezuela Winter League
{{DEFAULTSORT:Luecken, Rick 1960 births Living people American expatriate baseball players in Canada Atlanta Braves players Baseball players from Texas Bellingham Mariners players Calgary Cannons players Chattanooga Lookouts players Iowa Cubs players Kansas City Royals players Leones del Caracas players American expatriate baseball players in Venezuela Major League Baseball pitchers Memphis Chicks players Omaha Royals players Orleans Firebirds players People from McAllen, Texas Richmond Braves players Texas A&M Aggies baseball players Toronto Blue Jays players