Career
Leibrandt was drafted by the Cincinnati Reds in the ninth round of the 1978 free agent draft. He made his debut in Major League Baseball on September 17, 1979 in a Cincinnati Reds uniform. A few weeks later, he made his first post-season appearance in the 1979 National League Championship Series, recording an out of the only batter he faced, John Milner.
In 1980, Leibrandt was the Opening Day pitcher as the Reds beat the Atlanta Braves, 5-0, and Leibrandt threw a five-hit shutout for his first career win. But Leibrandt, while 10-9 in 1980, showed little promise in Cincinnati and was traded to the Kansas City Royals for Bob Tufts on June 7, 1983. The following year, Leibrandt went 11-7 with a 3.63 ERA as the Royals won the Western Division championship.
In 1985, Leibrandt had the best year of his career, going 17-9 with a 2.69 ERA as the Royals won the World Series. Over the next three years, Leibrandt won 14, 16, and 13 games, but after a disastrous 1989 when he went 5-11 on a second place team, the Royals traded Leibrandt and Rick Luecken to the Atlanta Braves for Gerald Perry and Jim Lemasters.
On May 16, 1987, Leibrandt pitched a complete game one-hitter against the Milwaukee Brewers. The only hit for the Brewers was a bunt hit by backup Brewers catcher Bill Schroeder. Schroeder would go on to become the TV color commentator for the Brewers.
On the last place Braves in 1990, Leibrandt went 9-11 with a 3.16 ERA, finishing behind only John Smoltz and Tom Glavine on the Braves staff in wins. The following year, 1991, Leibrandt was a member of one of two trio's in MLB history of southpaws ever to win fifteen games on the same staff, sharing that honor with Glavine and Steve Avery, also has been done by the 1997 Mariners since. Leibrandt was generally regarded as a fourth starter on the Braves in 1991 and 1992. On September 29, 1992, Leibrandt recorded the 1,000th strikeout of his career against the San Francisco Giants. In the same game, the Braves clinched the National League West title for the second straight year.
On December 9, 1992, Leibrandt was traded to the Texas Rangers along with Pat Gomez for everyday utility player Jose Oliva.
In 1993, despite six straight road wins (which no subsequent Texas Rangers pitcher matched until 2009, when it was surpassed by Scott Feldman), he ended with a season record of 9-10 record with a 4.55 ERA, and subsequently retired.
Read more about this topic: Charlie Leibrandt
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