Al Leiter on his Transition from Baseball to Broadcast Booth

Steve Adubato goes one-on-one with notable sportscaster and New Jersey native, Al Leiter, about his career from the baseball field to the broadcast booth.

7/20/2017 #2063

Excerpt:

"Being from the Jersey Shore and growing up as a fan, just seeing how it was on the other side, and here I am playing opening day is a dream come true here in New York. [music playing] He struck out the side for a second consecutive inning, Al Leiter the 21 year old rookie. Leiter making it look easy, he's doing it all. The winners and still world champions, the Toronto Blue Jays! He got it! Al Leiter with the Marlins' first no-hitter. The Florida Marlins have won the World Series! Al Leiter with good stuff once again. And Al Leiter has put the Mets into the playoffs for the first time in eleven years. No one's better than Al Leiter. He was dominating, finished it off with style. Man, I could look at that all day, but we got the guy in the house right now. Al Leiter... Memory lane, Steve. Yeah well, Al how many different teams you play for? Four. Four teams. By the way, you can catch Al at MLB Network as a guest analyst with our good friend Michael Kay, who was just on us, check out our website, you'll see Michael Kay. A great encore presentation, not center stage. His show, our show... [laughter] ...on our website. Hey listen, it is an honor to have you with us. Oh yeah, same. New Jersey guy? I watch your show. I watch your show. Do...? You...? I do. Alright, I'll take it. Listen, I'm a New Jersey guy, and I like to know what's going on. And I know you go beyond those boundaries, but well done. Where did you grow up in Jersey? I grew up in Pine Beach, Berkeley Township property tax. Sent to a regional high school... [laughter] ...and I was born in Toms River. So I get more flak from... from well, actually Todd Frazier. You know, he was... My son trains at Frazier's place down the shore. So Todd Frazier thinks I'm like... I'm trying purposefully to claim Toms River as my home town. No, I was born in Toms River... [laughter] ...at Community Memorial Hospital, in a... I love it! Yeah, so... Yeah by the way, the Frazier brothers have a great operation down there. Yeah. Hey listen, could you go back real quick? Before we talk about Major League Baseball today and a bunch of other things going on in your life as a broadcaster? Back in... I'm not sure when it was... you pitched against Wall Township in a historic game. How many innings? 13 innings. Now I thought it was a type, Al, the number of strikeouts you had was? 32. [laughter] And I could lift my arm! [laughter] Do you have any idea how many pitches? No, because Steve, back..."