He played football in college and was real good. However, this isn't about his football career its about his time playing baseball. He played at the University of Michigan and went to four bowl games and lost all four. Nevertheless he is in the Michigan Sports Hall of Fame. Besides being an outstanding football player he was equally so a baseball player and he set Wolverine records for games, hits, doubles, runs and RBI. Leach was drafted in 1975, coming out of high school, by the Phillies who drafted him again in 78. Taken in the 1st round, (13th) in the 79 draft by the Tigers he was signed for a bonus of reportedly $200,000. One of the important points in his decision was he said "after looking at all this 280-pound and 270-pound linemen-I decided I'd been taking enough knocks in my career and it was time to get out."
He debuted in 1981 but only hit .193 with 1 HR and 11 RBIs. Spending three years in Detroit he hit a meager .236 with 7 HR's and 49 RBIs. At the end of spring training 1984 he was released and quickly signed by the Blue Jays. A few months after his release by the Tigers he had some harsh words for the organization which he felt never supported him and that manager Sparky Anderson "never game me a fair chance."
He spent most of 85 in the minors but came back in 86 to hit .309 with 5 HR's and 39 RBIs. A good season in 87 was marred by a disappearance in August. Disappearing before a Tuesday game in Seattle he showed Wednesday night in Detroit at the airport. The team said it was a 'personal problem with his wife.' Later it was revealed he had an argument with his wife.
In 1989 Leach signed with the Rangers and is seen here in his Texas uniform. He hit .272 with a home run and 23 RBI's. In May he disappeared again this time in New York. When he returned 24-hours later he found himself under investigation by the police over a packet of marijuana found in his luggage. He was then ordered to undergo drug counseling and testing by the commissioner's office, though he was allowed to rejoin the team.
After failing a drug test in August of 1990 he was suspended for 60 days by the commissioner and was out of the game for good.
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