Leon Durham

Leon Durham (born July 31, 1957 in Cincinnati, Ohio) is a former first baseman and outfielder in Major League Baseball who played for 10 seasons. Durham played with the St. Louis Cardinals (1980,1989), Chicago Cubs (1981-1988), and Cincinnati Reds (1988). Durham batted and threw left-handed.

Durham graduated from Cincinnati Woodward High School in 1976 where he was a high school All-American selection his senior year, posting a .385 batting average with 16 home runs and an 11-3 record as a pitcher. Durham was selected by the St. Louis Cardinals in the 1976 amateur draft in the first round and 15th overall.

Durham made his major league debut on May 27, 1980 with the St. Louis Cardinals.

In a 10 year Major League career, Durham compiled a lifetime batting average of .277, hitting 147 home runs and driving in 530 runs. In 1982 Durham won a Silver Slugger Award as an outfielder. He was named to the All-Star team in 1982 and 1983 as a Chicago Cub.

Leon Durham is currently the hitting coach for the Detroit Tigers AAA affiliate the Toledo Mud Hens of the International League.

Career Hitting

G	AB	H	2B	3B	HR	R	RBI	SB	BB	SO	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS
1,067	3,587	992	192	40	147	522	530	106	444	679	.277	.356	.475	.831

1984 National League Championship Series

Leon Durham is unfortunately probably best remembered (and reviled by Chicago Cubs' fans to this day) for an error that he made at first base during the 1984 National League Championship Series. In the bottom of the seventh inning in the decisive fifth game[1] between Durham's Chicago Cubs and the San Diego Padres, the Padres sent pinch-hitter Tim Flannery to face the Cubs' ace pitcher Rick Sutcliffe. Through the top of the sixth inning, the Cubs had a 3-0 lead. In the bottom of the sixth inning, the Padres cut the Cubs' lead to 3-2 with a pair of singles by Alan Wiggins and Tony Gwynn, a walk to Steve Garvey, and sacrifice flies by Graig Nettles and Terry Kennedy. The bottom of the seventh inning kicked off with Carmelo Martinez walking on four pitches from Sutcliffe. Garry Templeton then sacrificed Martinez to second, setting things up for Tim Flannery. Martinez would then score when Flannery hit a sharp grounder that trickled through Leon Durham's legs for an error. The Padres wound up winning the game 6-3 to reach the World Series for the first time ever. What was especially frustrating was the fact that the Cubs had a 2 games to 0 lead (1984 marked the last time that the League Championship Series was a best-of-five series) over the Padres.

Trivia

• Boston Red Sox first baseman Bill Buckner would make the same error in the 1986 World Series. Ironically, Buckner was on the Cubs squad at the beginning of the 1984 season, but was traded mid-season to the Red Sox in exchange for Dennis Eckersley, thereby leaving an opening at first base, which was filled by Durham, who had previously been an outfielder. Some think that Leon Durham's error in the 1984 NLCS was the precursor for Buckner's error in Game 6 of the 1986 World Series.

Teams

• St. Louis Cardinals (1980; 1989)
• Chicago Cubs (1981-1988)
• Cincinnati Reds (1988)
• Saint Paul Saints (1993-1994)

External links

• Career statistics and player information from Baseball Reference
• MLB.com
• The Baseball Cube