Curt Leskanic

In a 2004 column written for ESPN previewing the American League Championship Series between the New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox, Bill Simmons broke down the bullpen matchup as follows: “In extra-inning games, I’d take (Derek) Lowe and Leskanic over any of the … Yankee guys. And you know there’s going to be one game that goes past midnight. It’s Yanks-Sox, for God’s sake.”1 Just one week later, Curtis Leskanic would enter Red Sox lore as a key figure in an extra-inning game that ended well past midnight and helped change a franchise’s destiny.

Curtis John Leskanic was born on April 2, 1968, in Homestead, Pennsylvania. This small borough in Allegheny County, just a few miles southeast of Pittsburgh, also produced Negro League pioneer and Baseball Hall of Famer Cumberland Posey. Curtis’s mother, Helen Eckbreth Leskanic, worked as a hairdresser and as a cook at a local restaurant. His father, Lawrence Leskanic, played semipro baseball in his 20s before pursuing a career in the steel industry in Pittsburgh.2 Curtis has another well-known family member: Cousin Katrina Leskanich was the lead singer of the band Katrina and the Waves, famous for their 1983 hit “Walkin’ on Sunshine.”3 In his youth, Leskanic said, “everyone had a glove, and everyone had a ball” in his hometown, so he spent a great deal of time playing baseball with his friends in the local parks.4 Leskanic attended Steel Valley High School in nearby Munhall, where he lettered in baseball and football. His college years began at the Community College of Allegheny County in West Mifflin, Pennsylvania. After spending one year there, he spent one year at Gulf Coast State College in Panama City, Florida, where he played on the baseball team. But after just one year of junior-college ball, Leskanic found that it “wasn’t all it was cracked up to be”5 and soon sought a transfer to a major college.

It was at Louisiana State University, under the tutelage of legendary manager Skip Bertman, that Leskanic truly began his road to the majors. In 1988, his first year in Baton Rouge, he appeared in only two games, throwing a total of 1⅓ innings.6 But 1989 was his breakout season. Working as both a starter and a reliever, he pitched in 29 games, starting 15. In 115⅔ innings, he compiled an impressive 120 strikeouts and posted a team-leading ERA of 3.19.7 He also recorded a conference-leading 15 wins, which was good enough to break LSU’s single-season record. Leskanic was named second team All-SEC.8 The loaded Tigers, whose roster featured six future major-league pitchers,9 clinched a spot in the 1989 College World Series. The sixth-seeded Tigers opened with a loss to Miami followed by wins against Long Beach State and a rematch against Miami.10 A loss to Texas eventually ended LSU’s run in Omaha, but Leskanic’s baseball career was only beginning. 

Despite only having one full year of major college baseball under his belt, Leskanic impressed Indians scouting director Chet Montgomery enough that Cleveland selected him in the eighth round of the June 1989 amateur draft. He began his professional career in 1990 in High-A ball with the Kinston (North Carolina) Indians of the Carolina League. He worked exclusively as a starting pitcher in 1990, compiling a 6-5 record with a 3.68 ERA in 14 starts. He stayed with Kinston for the 1991 season, again working only as a starter. His record improved to 15-8, and he shaved almost a full run off his ERA from the year before.

On March 28, 1992, Leskanic and pitcher Oscar Munoz were traded to the Minnesota Twins for first baseman Paul Sorrento. Leskanic did not appear in the majors for his new team, instead spending the 1992 season pitching with the Double-A Orlando Sun Rays and the Triple-A Portland Beavers. He started 26 of the 31 games in which he appeared, ending the season with 168 innings pitched and a combined 10-13 record.

The Twins left Leskanic unprotected for the 1992 expansion draft to help fill the rosters of the two new teams added to the National League for the 1993 season, the Florida Marlins and the Colorado Rockies. In a draft where 72 players were selected, Leskanic was drafted with the 66th pick by the Rockies. Reflecting on the draft five years later, Rockies general manager Bob Gebhard considered Leskanic one of his “pleasant surprises,” along with third baseman Charlie Hayes and Vinny Castilla.11 Indeed, Leskanic spent the rest of the decade occupying a crucial role on Colorado’s roster.

Leskanic began the 1993 season once again in the minors, pitching with the Triple-A Colorado Springs Sky Sox. He also appeared in seven games for the Double-A Wichita Wranglers. He posted a combined 7-5 record and an ERA of 3.96 before he was called up to the majors. Leskanic made his major-league debut on June 27, 1993, getting the start against the San Francisco Giants at Candlestick Park. Pitching seven innings, he gave up five runs on seven hits, including a two-run home run by utility infielder Mike Benjamin in Leskanic’s seventh and final inning pitched.

In a battle of expansion teams on July 8, 1993, Leskanic recorded his first major-league win, against the Florida Marlins. Pitching 6⅔ innings, Leskanic shut out the visiting Marlins, striking out five and walking two. Surprisingly, the only hit he allowed was to Marlins starting pitcher Pat Rapp. A trio of Colorado relievers helped secure the 3-2 win for Leskanic and the Rockies.

Leskanic’s – and the Rockies’ – growing pains continued throughout the inaugural 1993 season. Appearing in 18 games (eight as a starter), Leskanic posted a subpar 5.37 ERA with only 30 strikeouts in 57 innings pitched. The Rockies as a team ended their first season with 67 wins and 95 losses, 37 games behind the division-winning Atlanta Braves. Leskanic also encountered his first off-field setback that August when he was arrested for drunk driving after crashing his car in a Denver suburb.12 He escaped the crash uninjured, but it was not his last brush with danger behind the wheel.  

Leskanic began the 1994 season back in the minors with the Sky Sox. Working only as a starter, he recorded a 3.31 ERA in 130⅓ innings. When he returned to the majors late in the season, he appeared in eight games, getting the starting nod in three of them. His final start in the strike-shortened season came on August 5 against the Los Angeles Dodgers in Denver’s Mile High Stadium. Pitching opposite Ramón Martínez, Leskanic took the loss, allowing five Dodgers runs in 5⅔ innings. This game ended up being the final start of his major-league career. Leskanic appeared only in relief roles for his final nine seasons.

The next season, 1995, was Leskanic’s first full season in the majors. It was also Coors Field’s first season as the Rockies’ home ballpark. On April 26 the Rockies hosted the Mets for the first regular-season game played there. The home fans got their money’s worth as the game went to extra innings with the score tied, 7-7. Leskanic came on in the 11th, eventually pitching three innings and allowing one run on a single by José Vizcaíno in the 13th. Dante Bichette’s walk-off home run in the 14th inning ended the 11-9 slugfest and gave the Rockies their first win in their new home.

As for Leskanic, he went on to lead the National League in games pitched in 1995, appearing in 76. He led all National League relievers with 107 strikeouts.13 Despite mainly working as a set-up man for closer Darren Holmes, Leskanic did get the occasional opportunity to close out a game. In a Sunday afternoon game on June 4, Leskanic earned his first career save, against the visiting Pittsburgh Pirates. He locked down the ninth inning, allowing no baserunners and striking out one to secure a 4-1 Rockies win. It was the first of 10 saves for Leskanic in 1995, second only to Holmes’s 14 for the team lead. By season’s end, Leskanic had compiled a 6-3 record with a 3.40 ERA in 98 innings pitched.

In only their third year of existence, the Rockies made their first postseason appearance, winning the wild card by one game over the Houston Astros. Their reward was a Division Series matchup against the soon-to-be World Series champion Atlanta Braves. The Braves eliminated the Rockies three games to one. Leskanic took the loss in Game One, giving up a ninth-inning solo home run to Chipper Jones that broke a 4-4 tie. He recorded a hold in Game Three, facing two batters in the seventh inning and one in the eighth before being removed for Bruce Ruffin.  

Leskanic followed up his strong 1995 season with a subpar 1996. While he still managed over one strikeout per inning as he had the year prior, and while he recorded six saves and a 7-5 record over 70 games pitched, his ERA nearly doubled, to 6.23. But 1996 proved to be rough year for the entire Rockies pitching staff, who posted a collective 5.59 ERA. Conversely, five Rockies position players hit over .300, and three hit at least 40 home runs. Coors Field, in only its second season as the Rockies’ home ballpark, was already earning its reputation as a hitter’s dream and pitcher’s nightmare.

Leskanic’s role as a reliable set-up man for the Rockies continued throughout the remainder of the 1990s. From 1997 to 1999, he appeared in a total of 184 games, pitching 219 innings and striking out 185. He recorded four more saves in limited closing opportunities behind the recently acquired Jerry DiPoto and Dave Veres. While his ERA during this time was hovering around 5.00, his park-adjusted ERA+ was actually just above league average. On June 9, 1999, Leskanic recorded the last “first” of his career when he hit his only major-league home run, against the visiting Seattle Mariners. Facing Mariners reliever Rafael Carmona in the bottom of the seventh with two men on, Leskanic went deep down the left-field line to drive home the Rockies’ final three runs in a 16-11 win.

Exactly seven years from the day Leskanic was drafted by the expansion Rockies, he was traded to the Milwaukee Brewers on November 17, 1999, for fellow reliever – and future Red Sox teammate – Mike Myers. After a midseason trade sent incumbent Brewers closer Bob Wickman to Cleveland, Leskanic took over the role for the remainder of the 2000 season and finished the year with 12 saves. In addition to these saves, he compiled a 9-3 record, struck out 75 batters and recorded what was then a career-best 2.56 ERA in 73 appearances.

Unbeknownst to Brewers coaches and staff, Leskanic spent much of the 2001 season pitching through the pain of a torn rotator cuff and a torn labrum in his throwing shoulder.14 Despite the pain, he pitched in 70 games and recorded 17 saves working as the team’s primary closer. At the end of the season, he underwent surgery to repair both tears and endured months of rehabilitation, often working six days a week in the hopes of expediting his return.15 He was only able to resume pitching at the end of the 2002 season, appearing in just eight games with a pair of Milwaukee’s farm clubs. When asked during spring training in 2003 about his decision to pitch through the pain during the 2001 season, Leskanic said, “I might [have been] sore, but I’m not going to say a word. … I’m a football player in a baseball body.”16

Leskanic returned to the Brewers to start the 2003 season. He did not finish it there. Despite putting together a sparkling 4-0 record with a 2.70 ERA in the first half of the season, he was traded to the Kansas City Royals for outfielder Alejandro Machado and pitcher Wes Obermueller on July 10. His second half with the Royals was even more impressive –a 1.73 ERA and a pair of saves in 27 appearances. The Royals re-signed him for the 2004 season on December 1, 2003, only to release him on June 18 of the next year. In 19 games with the 2004 Royals, his ERA ballooned to 8.04, and his won-lost record was an equally disappointing 0-3. 

After his release, two teams showed interest in the free-agent reliever: the Boston Red Sox and the New York Yankees. Leskanic’s former Rockies teammate Jerry DiPoto, now working as a scout for the Red Sox, reached out to Leskanic and told him he would fit in perfectly in Boston. Leskanic agreed, saying that “I’d never make it as a Yankee. In a Boston uniform, I could just be me.”17 So just four days after being released by Kansas City, the veteran reliever signed with the Red Sox. Johnny Damon later recalled vouching for Leskanic’s talent in a conversation with general manager Theo Epstein before the signing: “This guy has a good arm. Please at least take a look.”18 His first chance to pitch for his new team came on June 25, when he threw one inning in relief of Pedro Martínez in a rain-shortened eight-inning 12-1 blowout win over the visiting Philadelphia Phillies. Leskanic struck out one and did not allow a baserunner in his Fenway Park debut. On July 8 against the Oakland Athletics, Leskanic pitched a perfect 10th inning in relief of closer Keith Foulke to record his first win as a member of the Red Sox. As DiPoto predicted, Leskanic fit right in with the collective “Idiot” personality of the 2004 Red Sox. He certainly looked the part as well with his five-o’clock shadow and his long hair flying out of the back of his hat with every pitch.19

Despite on occasion being referred to as “Let’s Panic” by fans and media members frustrated by some of his past relief outings, Leskanic put together a streak of 10 consecutive scoreless appearances for the Red Sox from August 20 through September 14, a crucial stretch in the season during which Boston was able to distance itself from the Oakland Athletics in the race for the wild card.20 On September 27 the Red Sox clinched the wild card with a win over the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. Leskanic came on in the seventh with two runners on and retired the next two batters, ending the inning and the Devil Rays’ threat.

In the Division Series, the Red Sox made quick work of the West Division champion Anaheim Angels, sweeping them in three games by a combined score of 25-12. Leskanic did not appear in the series. The American League Championship Series was a rematch from the year prior, with the Red Sox facing off against the rival New York Yankees. Leskanic was called into action early in Game One, appearing in the fourth inning to relieve a struggling Curt Schilling. With the Red Sox already down 6-0, Leskanic walked the first two men he faced before getting Álex Rodríguez to ground into a double play and striking out Gary Sheffield to end the inning. In Game Three, Leskanic came on in the fourth with the game tied, 6-6, and gave up a three-run home run to Sheffield and a double to Hideki Matsui before being pulled for Tim Wakefield.

Leskanic’s next – and last – appearance in the ALCS came in a must-win Game Four at Fenway Park on October 17. In a game perhaps best remembered for Dave Roberts’ steal of second base in the bottom of the ninth, Leskanic’s late-game heroics may have been just as important. After nine hard-fought innings, the game went to extra innings with the score tied, 4-4. Leskanic entered in the top of the 11th in relief of Myers, the man for whom he was once traded, with the bases loaded and two outs. He got Bernie Williams to fly out to center to end the inning and the Yankee threat. With the game still tied, he came out again to pitch the 12th. He gave up a hit to Jorge Posada to open the inning and then took a hard grounder off his leg from the bat of Rubén Sierra. Undeterred, Leskanic fielded the ball and threw Sierra out at first. He retired the next two batters he faced, ending the frame by striking out Miguel Cairo. David Ortiz’s two-run home run in the bottom of the 12th sent Red Sox fans home happy and gave Leskanic the win in one of the wildest games in postseason history.

That clutch performance in Game Four was the last game Leskanic ever pitched in the majors. By this point in his career, Leskanic himself admitted he was pitching on fumes: “It was all adrenaline; my arm was pretty much done.”21 Theo Epstein concurred, stating, “He had no right pitching in the big leagues with the way his shoulder was at that point … and he’s making huge pitches, getting huge outs for us.”22 The Red Sox proceeded to win their next seven games, taking the pennant in seven over the Yankees and earning the franchise’s first World Series victory in 86 years after a sweep of the St. Louis Cardinals. After the 2004 season, Leskanic announced his retirement. When reflecting on his final season, which started by being released by the Royals and ended with a World Series victory, Leskanic said it was “like falling out of a dump truck and ending up on a cloud.”23

In the 2007 World Series, the Red Sox faced the Rockies. Leskanic, who had postseason experience with both teams, had difficulty picking a team to root for, saying that he “just wanted to see a good series.”24 The Red Sox swept the overmatched Rockies in four games. At the 2008 Red Sox home opener, Leskanic and his 2004 teammate Dave McCarty appeared in the pregame festivities, carrying their team’s World Series trophy. Leskanic and McCarty’s role in this celebration served as a reminder to Red Sox Nation that their once-moribund franchise had now won two championships in the last four seasons.25 Leskanic also spent the 2008 season working as a scout for the Red Sox from his home in Florida.26

Despite these opportunities to still be involved in the game he loved, Leskanic admitted that he had difficulty adjusting to life after his playing career ended: “When I retired, I was a bitter, miserable, and self-endowed jerk.”27 In 2011 Leskanic was arrested near his home in Altamonte Springs, Florida, and charged with driving under the influence. His daughter was with him in the car, where he was found by police hunched over the steering wheel. His blood/alcohol level was over four times the legal limit, and, as a result, he had to be sent to the hospital as a precaution before being sent to jail.28

After this second drunk-driving incident, Leskanic found strength in his faith to help him overcome his demons, saying that “God humbled me.”29 He began volunteering his time at local jails, telling his story to warn others of the dangers of driving under the influence.30 As of 2023, he was the owner and manager of Tres Jolie Medical Spa in Longwood, Florida. His wife, Susan, also works for the spa.31 Leskanic still finds time to go back to Boston periodically to watch Red Sox games, work with local charities, and visit with teammates and friends.32 In 2023 he said that people still recognized him and thanked him for his role in helping the Red Sox beat the Yankees in 2004 and end the Curse of the Bambino.33 When asked in 2021 about his time with the 2004 Red Sox and his extra-inning Game Four win, Leskanic said it was like a dream come true: “Of course, when you’re a kid, that’s all you think about. … To be in that situation … was surreal.”34

Sources

In addition to the sources cited in the Notes, the author consulted Baseball-Reference.com and Retrosheet.org.

Notes

1 Bill Simmons, Now I Can Die in Peace (New York: Random House, 2009), 281.

2 Author interview with Curtis Leskanic, April 29, 2023.

3 John Paschal, “Relatively Important: When Performers Run in the Family,” fangraphs.com, May 28, 2019. https://tht.fangraphs.com/relatively-important-when-performers-run-in-the-family/.

4 April 29, 2023, interview.

5 April 29, 2023, interview.

6 2020 LSU Baseball Yearbook: Baseball at the Box. https://issuu.com/lsuathletics/docs/2020_lsu_baseball_yearbook

7 2020 LSU Baseball Yearbook.

8 2020 LSU Baseball Yearbook.

9 The six future major-league pitchers on the 1989 LSU roster were Leskanic, Paul Byrd, Ben McDonald, Chad Ogea, John O’Donoghue, and Russ Springer

10 2020 LSU Baseball Yearbook.

11 Irv Moss, “Rockies and Marlins Took 72 Players,” Denver Post, November 18, 1997. https://extras.denverpost.com/rock/rock1127.htm.

12 “Notes,” San Bernardino County (California) Sun, August 20, 1993: C3. 

13 “Sports Briefs,” Indiana (Pennsylvania) Gazette, January 30, 1996: 15.

14 Arnie Stapleton (Associated Press), “Injured Brewers Closer Leskanic Back,” Midland (Texas) Daily News, February 23, 2002. https://www.ourmidland.com/news/article/Injured-Brewers-Closer-Leskanic-Back-7056329.php.

15 Stapleton.

16 Stapleton.

17 Interview with Leskanic, April 29, 2023. 

18 Ian Browne, Idiots Revisited (Thomaston, Maine: Tilbury House, 2014), 112.

19 Browne, 112.

20 “2004 World Champion Boston Red Sox. Curtis John Leskanic.” http://www.redsoxdiehard.com/worldseries/ players/leskanic.html.

21 Allan Wood and Bill Nowlin, Don’t Let Us Win Tonight (Chicago: Triumph Books, 2014), 134.

22 Don’t Let Us Win Tonight, 135.

23 Don’t Let Us Win Tonight, 266.

24 Jeff Birnbaum, “Where Are They Now? Curtis Leskanic,” MLB.com. https://web.archive.org/web/ 20140826015229/http://newyork.yankees.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20080926&content_id=3553486&vkey=news_col&fext=.jsp&c_id=col.

25 Dan Shaughnessy, “Red Sox’ Home Opener a Success All Around,” Boston Globe, April 8, 2008. http://archive.boston.com/sports/baseball/redsox/articles/2008/04/08/red_sox_home_opener_a_success_all_around/?page=1.

26 Baseball America Directory 2008: Your Definitive Guide to the Game (New York: Simon & Schuster, 2008), 27.

27 facebook.com/curtis.leskanic/about_details.

28 Gary Taylor, “Curtis Leskanic: Former Pro Baseball Pitcher Arrested on DUI Charge,” Orlando Sentinel, September 14, 2011. https://www.orlandosentinel.com/sports/os-xpm-2011-09-15-os-former-baseball-player-dui-20110914-story.html.

29 facebook.com/curtis.leskanic/about_details.

30 linkedin.com/in/curtis-leskanic-791bab88?trk=people-guest_people_search-card.

31 linkedin.com/in/curtis-leskanic-791bab88?trk=people-guest_people_search-card.

32 Interview with Curtis Leskanic, April 29, 2023.

33 April 29, 2023, interview.

34 Jessica Eley, “Fox 35 Speaks to Former Red Sox Pitcher Who Won 2004 World Series,” Fox 35 Orlando, November 2, 2021. https://www.fox35orlando.com/news/fox-35-speaks-to-former-red-sox-pitcher-who-won-2004-world-series.