Florida Southern college hitter Chris Leach had been hitting well, over .400 well, but he still considered himself in a lull going into this April 1988 game, he told The Tampa Tribune.
He then quickly got out of it, hitting for the cycle, The Tribune wrote.
"I came out of a slump," Leach told The Tribune afterward. "I was pressing too much against the University of Tampa. ... I just wanted to hit the ball hard and use the whole field."
Leach went on from there to turn pro the next year. His pro career lasted three seasons. He made high-A.
Leach's pro career began in 1989, signed by the Red Sox as an undrafted free agent out of Florida Southern.
Leach started with the Red Sox at single-A Winter Haven. He got into 63 games and hit .165.
He then moved to high-A Lynchburg. He hit .194 there in 97 games. His time there was notable in that he lost track of the number of outs one inning, leading everyone off the field after two outs. The opposing team even took the field before things got straightened out, The Associated Press wrote.
"Every time I make the last out, I always glance in to see what everybody else is doing and it kind of looked to me like they were heading in a little bit, so I trotted in with them," Leach told reporters afterward. "It never occurred to me there was only two outs until I got in the dugout and the umpire came over and said there were two outs."
Leach then returned to Lynchburg for 1991. He saw 46 games that year and hit .214 to end his career.
- Tampa Tribune, April 11, 1988: Leach breaks out of slump, leads FSC to win
- Newport News Daily Press, Aug. 16, 1990: Players confused on number of outs
Made the Majors:1,369-33.1%
Never Made Majors:2,770-66.9%-X
5+ Seasons in the Majors:557
10+ Seasons in the Minors:337
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