Harold Langford Leathers (December 2, 1898 – April 12, 1977) was a professional baseball

middle infielder An infielder is a baseball player stationed at one of four defensive "infield" positions on the baseball field. Standard arrangement of positions In a game of baseball, two teams of nine players take turns playing offensive and defensive roles. ...

who played in nine games for the 1920 Chicago Cubs of Major League Baseball (MLB). Listed at and , he batted left-handed and threw right-handed.

Biography

Leathers' minor league baseball career spanned 1918 to 1924, plus a final season in 1926. He appeared in 778 minor league games, compiling a .253 batting average. Defensively, he played 480 games as a shortstop and 142 games as a second baseman. From mid-September to early October 1920, Leathers appeared in nine major league games with the

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as part of the National League (NL) Central division. The club plays its home games at Wrigley Field, which is located ...

. He registered a .304 batting average (7-for-23) with one home run, which was hit off of Joe Oeschger of the

Boston Braves The Atlanta Braves, a current Major League Baseball franchise, originated in Boston, Massachusetts. This article details the history of the Boston Braves, from 1871 to 1952, after which they moved to Milwaukee, and then to Atlanta. During it ...

. Defensively, Leathers made six appearances at shortstop (four starts) and three appearances at second base, recording an .837

fielding percentage In baseball statistics, fielding percentage, also known as fielding average, is a measure that reflects the percentage of times a defensive player properly handles a batted or thrown ball. It is calculated by the sum of putouts and assists, div ...

. He committed three errors in his first major league start at shortstop, one of which led to an unearned run, the difference in a 1–0 Cubs loss to the

Brooklyn Robins The Brooklyn Dodgers were a Major League Baseball team founded in 1884 as a member of the American Association before joining the National League in 1890. They remained in Brooklyn until 1957, after which the club moved to Los Angeles, Californi ...

. Leathers was born in 1898 in Selma, California. As of February 1942, he was living in Los Angeles and was self-employed as a gardener. He died in 1977 in

Modesto, California Modesto () is the county seat and largest city of Stanislaus County, California, United States. With a population of 218,464 at the 2020 census, it is the 19th largest city in the state of California and forms part of the Sacramento-Stockton- ...

, and was interred in

Hughson, California Hughson is a city in Stanislaus County, California, United States. It is part of the Modesto Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 7,481 at the 2020 census, up from 6,640 at the 2010 census. History of farming Hughson is surrounded ...

Notes

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External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Leathers, Hal 1898 births 1977 deaths People from Selma, California Baseball players from Fresno County, California Chicago Cubs players Los Angeles Angels (minor league) players Seattle Giants players Norfolk Mary Janes players Kansas City Blues (baseball) players Mobile Bears players Pittsfield Hillies players Charleston Pals players Macon Peaches players Wilson Bugs players Bloomington Bloomers players