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UPDATE (Wednesday, 2:16 pm): The New York Yankees have selected Jack Leiter in the 20th round of the MLB's 2019 draft, even though he insists he's going to Vanderbilt. The Yankees have selected their high school teammate in Delbarton, short-stop Anthony Volpe, in the first round, No. 30 overall, Monday night.
Al Leiter arrives at the bucolic baseball field of Delbarton School, ready to watch his son play in the final game of a brilliant career in high school. Obstacles to achieving this goal, however, become evident.
People. Many of them.
The former teammate of the 90s, anxious to exchange stories of war. The former talkative governor, armed with sarcasm. The dozen scouts lined up with their radar guns and eager to offer their observations. The sportsman annoys, asking questions before the national anthem has stopped playing.
Even the family dog, called "Shea" for the stadium disappeared that he had used to call home, constantly crawls around the feet of the onlookers. Leiter can pay $ 8 to a child for this distraction to go away. But the rest of us?
We know how to understand.
Jack Leiter stepped on the mound and immediately his father pulled out a sheet of folded printer paper and moved to a more isolated location behind the bottom. The message is clear: when his child treats him, his father is busy doing everything to ensure that both can break the ups and downs of this performance at home later in the evening.
In a sense, they form a team within a team. Jack Leiter is one of the best pitching hopes in the country, a 19-year-old ace with a fastball in the mid-90s and an unpleasant curve that helped him to dominate the competition at this level. The numbers: 73 strikeouts in 43 innings, with only 20 hits, 16 draws and a time of 0.84, Delbarton being one of the favorites to win a state championship.
Al Leiter did not miss a match this season, a series made possible by his decision to leave his position as an analyst at YES Network. He admits, however, that the word decision is not very precise. It was obvious.
"Having a son who loves baseball and is dedicated to it, I do not want to miss that kind of thing," said Leiter. "Honestly, the last two years with the Yankees, I've always said, I want to make sure it's fun. It was the hour. It was really. "
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Will the next major decision be more complicated? Not so daddy has his way. He knows the teams will soon have to know, perhaps by the end of the week, if Jack Leiter will sign a contract if they choose him on June 3rd.
The answer is not a firm one – at least not yet. But with a purse at Vanderbilt waiting for his son, Al Leiter hopes his son will make a different decision than the one he'd made when, in 1984, he was in the same situation as the most electrifying pitcher of the day. 39; State.
"I was 19 (in the majors)," he said. "I had a great career, my life is good, but there's always that little something, I signed with the Yankees at the end of high school and three years later I played at Yankee Stadium. well.
"But I was not the same student as Jack.For me, going to a place like Vanderbilt, as smart as it is, it's a way of life." I hope it will never be a monetary decision, I know it boils down to that, I'm not stupid, but I do not want it to be a matter of money. "
Jack Leiter, unlike his father, does not show his cards at the moment. "I have not thought about all this and I do not even know when I'll think about it, because it's in the middle of the state tournament," he said. Given the season that he has – and the race that the Delbarton team enjoys – it's understandable.
Leiter had a handful of brilliant performances, including a gem against West Morris on May 11th. He was away from a perfect match and when a 3-1 pitch was called a ball to end the game, Delbarton's crowd was furious. .
This included an important rowdy: former Gov. Chris Christie, whose son, Patrick, also plays for Delbarton. "You think you are history today! What are you going to have YOUR name in the newspaper ?!" Christie shouted at the gun as young Leiter opted for a title and county title from Morris.
However, the performance only raises his profile, a phenomenon that Al Leiter knows well. He pitched twice without a striker in his senior season at Central Regional High Bayville and two others that season, but even though they are not legendary, such as this effort in 13 innings, 32 hits and 163 throws. today, the team coach would have been dragged handcuffed off the field.
He was not nervous then. Now?
"Oh yes, I'm getting nervous," he says. "It's 100% different from my playing experience, it's your child, you give them your heart, when you look at your child, he's different, you want them to be successful, he's your child!"
In this game, which opens the game against the Oratory Prep, he does not have to worry. Delbarton takes a big lead and, apart from some shots in the infield and an undeserved point, Jack Leiter is in control.
The father finally relaxes when the son is shot, keeping his countdown for bigger games to come. That's when the former teammate, former winner of the Cy Young Award and patriarch of the Blue Jays, Pat Hentgen, takes her hand and sends her congratulations.
"It was fun to watch," said Hentgen. "You must be so proud, my man."
The crowd seems to know that with Jack on the bench, Al plays well. A fan proposes to his grandson to introduce him – "He's the father of Jack Leiter!" he says as exposed beams – and Christie is back with a new set of jokes.
Al Leiter won 162 games in major tournaments and celebrated two World Series titles. But, while he's slipping on the ground to teach his kid who walks his dog to throw properly, you can not help but wonder if he's ever been happier in front of a baseball diamond .
His son will probably start again on Tuesday. It will be there early and when Jack Leiter walks on the mound, people around the Delbarton background will know it's time to give the proud father some space to look at him.
Steve Politi can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @StevePoliti. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
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