NEW YORK – Jack Leiter was a proud son on Saturday, finally getting to see his father pitch in a game he would remember.
Pitch, however, might not be the best word. Maybe lob.
A bit of serendipitous scheduling had the Rangers’ visit to Citi Field coinciding with the Mets’ Alumni Classic, a kinder, gentler name for Old-Timers Game. Starting for Team Shea against Team Citi Field: Al Leiter.
Al, who turns 60, in October faced four batters, a long stint in one of these affairs, in the first inning. Jack, who was five when his dad retired and has no recollection of seeing him pitch in a game beyond video, ate up every pitch. Or lob.
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“This is really cool,” Jack said. “The odds of being here for this are really slim since we play here only once every other year. It’s a really fun thing. But his shoulder is really shot. I think it finally gave out a couple of years ago playing catch with me.”
Al, who still fit nicely into Mets’ pinstripes, spent time in the Rangers’ dugout before the classic, visiting with Jacob deGrom and Nathan Eovaldi, in addition to his son.
But it also allowed Jack, now 25, to reunite with some of his childhood heroes, who were playing in the game, such as Paul Lo Duca, who was with the Marlins when the Leiters were still living in South Florida.
Al wanted his son to be a hitter and had read something about Lo Duca’s mother tossing him beans to hit when he was little. Not long after, Leiter’s mother, Lori, was charged with tossing him pinto beans to smack with a toy bat.
“It’s what I associate him with: Pinto beans,” Jack said after chatting with Lo Duca.
How did the whole thing work?
Well, Jack is a pitcher now. Enough said.
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