Al Leiter and Harold Reynolds: Old School Baseball, Lost Art of Pitching, Nearly Fighting David Ortiz
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What do the hosts say in the opening welcome and introductions?
Welcome back, all the smoke dugout, 19 year major leaguer, two-time all-star lefty ace. Couple World Series under your belt. Welcome to the show, Alliance. Thank you,
Matt. Thank you. Thank you.
So I love the I love the kind of the before we're rolling, just the conversation. And and that's one of the reasons why you ask about this space is we found a a real sweet spot doing basketball where we have kind of the nostalgia. And I hate to say that we're all kind of nostalgia, but we a little bit are and The ability to tell these type of stories, just reminiscing and having fun and we found the same kind of energy and and success we had in basketball now in this baseball space. So Thank you for sitting down with us and thank you for being a part of it. Yeah. I know you guys know each other pretty well.
Yeah, we go way back. We spent a lot of time together. We worked together at MLB Network, but one of the original casts. Two thousand nine we opened the network. One of the OGs, huh? Me,
Perry Larkin, Harold Reynolds. Oh. Yeah. Right there, knocking on the door. Seventeen years, eighteen years? Eighteen years. MLB Network.
Wow.
Like that.
Goes by quick.
Yeah.
What do you remember about facing this lefty?
Nasty cutter. He threw hard. But he hadn't commanded it when I first faced him. And then I watched his career. Uh actually covered his no hitter. I was there and you threw it By the way, let me back up.
He he's lying.
He's lying. How am I lying?
How do Al and Harold recount their early days at MLB Network and the George Steinbrenner connection?
I never faced you. And you never faced me. I don't think so. I th I w I took you deep. Are you gonna home run off him? No, I don't think that would have been great. He was uh put it this way. You were by the way, Har
man Harold looks better than I, but he is way older. Five years older. All right.
Black don't crack.
See?
That
is
and we heard that you know, no substances either. That probably helps a little bit. That helps. That's
from my
grandmother's
side for sure. No, I might have uh not maybe not. When was your last year in Seattle? In Seattle, uh 92. But then I went to Baltimore 93, Anaheim 94.
What stories do they share about pitching against Tommy John and the lessons learned?
You were in the big leagues, you were with Toronto.
You were lefty, they wouldn't they wouldn't let you hit. I switched hit, man. You don't even hit right now.
No, I'm kidding. I'm
Matty, I he I I say this all the time. After I retired in oh spring of oh six, I g I was uh I was with the Yankees, first the WBC team USA. I made it 'cause it was literally everybody else said no, they were hurt or whatever. And I I st I went to spring training that year just to get a chance to do the inaugural season. And um But after uh after I'd retired A a a guy who worked for George Steinbrenner said George wants to see upstairs. When when George was still George. And I I'd I'd started my career with the Yankees, young kid, grew up in South Jersey. Signed a letter of intent to go to University of Florida, got an offer I couldn't refuse. I grew up a Mets fan, signed with the Yankees three years later.
I'm pitching a Yankee Stadium. I got Don Manningley at first, Willie Randolph at second, Bobby Meachum was playing short, Paglerulla throwing to Rick Saron in the same rotation with Tommy John. Tommy John. Wow. Uh he was forty six years old. I was twenty one. Uh did he
just pass?
Yes. Yeah, just pass. Rest
in
peace.
Yeah.
Um Ron Gidry. Anyway, so I bring this up. And George was very nice. He was very, you know, he was very So it wasn't like going to the principal's office then? Kinda. Kinda. So Mark Zettelmeyer, a longtime executive that worked for George, uh when I came up to the Yankees, they used to have spring training in Fort Lauderdale before they moved to Tampa. And Zettelmeyer came over and hugged. He's like, ah, nice career or whatever. George wants to see it. So I go up there and and he was very nice and he said, So what do you want to do? I said, I don't know, George. You know, I have a twelve year old daughter and I got a ten-year-old daughter and you know, Jack was one of seven. I said, I want to be a dad, and you know, I d uh the game's good to me.
I said, Maybe television. I see him, he had these big old gold glass glasses and he's sitting in this big desk and he looks at me and I could see his wheels turning 'cause
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What do the hosts say in the opening welcome and introductions?
0:00–1:17
2
How do Al and Harold recount their early days at MLB Network and the George Steinbrenner connection?
1:17–1:53
3
What stories do they share about pitching against Tommy John and the lessons learned?
1:53–7:47
4
Is the legendary 32‑strikeout high‑school game real, and how does Al describe that performance?
7:47–49:34
5
How did Billy Martin and other old‑school managers shape the pitching approach in the early 1990s?
49:34–1:01:50
6
What are the most memorable Ricky Henderson stories and why is he considered a baseball legend?
1:01:50–1:22:29
7
How did the 2000 World Series, the 9/11 attacks, and the “healing” of baseball affect the players?
1:22:29–1:34:59
8
What advice does Al give for protecting a young pitcher’s arm and how does he view modern pitch‑count limits?
1:34:59–1:37:31
Speakers
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