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Tuesday, Feb. 19 11:14am ET
Yankees sign IF Leyritz to minor league contract
BRONX, New York (Ticker) -- Infielder Jim Leyritz, who has not
played in the major leagues since 2000, signed a minor league
contract with the New York Yankees and was invited to spring
training.
Leyritz originally signed with the Yankees as a non-drafted free
agent in 1985 and played in New York from 1990-96. He hit a
game-tying three-run homer in Game Four of the 1996 World Series
when the Yankees rallied from a 6-0 deficit before winning in 10
innings and going on to their first title in 18 years.
The 38-year-old Leyritz played with Anaheim, Texas, Boston, San
Diego and Los Angeles between 1997-00. He split 1999 with the
Yankees and Padres and returned to New York for 24 games in
2000, batting .218 with one home run and four RBI.
Leyritz can play first base and third base as well as catcher.
He has a .264 batting average with 90 homers and 387 RBI in
2,527 career games. In 2001, Leyritz batted .296 with four home
runs and 15 RBI in 19 games with the Newark Bears of the
Atlantic League/Indpendent. He had his contract purchased by
the Padres and batted .261 with five homers and 10 RBI in 16
games with Class AAA Portland of the Pacific Coast League.
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