In a game that went on five hours and 14 innings, Mintz pitched the final six innings and picked up the win, The World wrote.
"Mintz saved our pitching staff the other night," Shreveport manager Ron Wotus told The World, referencing previous work by the right-hander. "He's done the job."
Mintz did the job that year in Shreveport. He later did the job in the bigs over two seasons then as a coach and manager in the minors - and in Australia - after his playing days were through.
Mintz' career in baseball began in 1990, taken by the Dodgers in the 17th round of the draft out of Mount Olive College.
Mintz started with the Dodgers at short-season Yakima. He went 2-3 over 20 relief appearances, with a 2.42 ERA. He then made high-A Bakersfield for 1991 and Vero Beach in 1992.
After going through the Red Sox system and AA New Britain in 1993, he arrived with the Giants for 1994. He played that year between AA Shreveport and AAA Phoenix. In 1995, he made San Francisco.
Mintz saw 14 games for the Giants in 1995. He gave up 16 earned over 19.1 innings of work. He then returned to the minors for 1996, where he saved 27 games for AAA Phoenix.
He played 1997 at AAA for the Padres and 1998 at AAA with the Pirates. He then returned for one final look at the bigs in 1999 with the Angels. He got into three games and gave up two earned in five innings of work.
Mintz continued playing in the minors for two more seasons, ending in 2001 at AAA Salt Lake with the Angels.
Mintz then started his post-playing career as a coach and manager. He started as a pitching coach with the Twins in the rookie Gulf Coast League. He spent four seasons in that role. He served as pitching coach at AA New Britain in 2008.
He coached at high-A Fort Myers in 2012. That July, he told his hometown Wilmington Star News how fortunate he was.
"I can't complain about my career and job," Mintz told The Star News. "I have a job doing something I have always loved doing my whole life. I guess everybody can't say that."
In 2016, he tried his hand at managing at single-A Hickory in the Rangers system. The previous off-season, he went to Australia and managed the Adelaide Bite.
"My biggest thing," Mintz told Australia's ABC News in October 2015, "is for the guys to respect the game, play the game the right way on and off the field ... also do all that we can for the fans for 27 outs and hopefully we'll have one more run at the end of the night than the other team."
- Tulsa World, April 30, 1994: Mintz Tries to Rescue Captain Bus, Then Sinks Drillers
- Wilmington Star News, July 7, 2012: Leland's Mintz coaching in Twins farm system
- ABC News, Oct. 23, 2015: North Carolina's Steve Mintz returns to Adelaide to manage the Bite
Players/Coaches Featured: 2,830
Made the Majors:1,068-37.7%-X
Never Made Majors:1,762-62.3%
5+ Seasons in the Majors: 444
10+ Seasons in the Minors:266
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