- Leon Riley
Leon Francis Riley (
August 20 ,1906 —September 13 ,1970 ) was an American player and manager inminor league baseball . During a playing career that stretched from 1927-42 and 1944-49, Riley appeared in 2,267 minor league games, with a brief trial with the 1944Philadelphia Phillies during theWorld War II manpower shortage. He was the father ofPat Riley , the longtime player, coach, broadcaster and executive in theNational Basketball Association who is currently president of theMiami Heat .Born in
Princeton, Nebraska , Leon Riley was anoutfielder andfirst baseman who stood 6'1" (185 cm) tall, weighed 185 pounds (83.9 kg), batted left-handed, and threw right-handed. Although he reached the top minor league level in 116 games for theRochester Red Wings (1932) and Baltimore Orioles (1939) of the Class AAInternational League , Riley spent most of his playing career in the Class A Western League, leading that loop intriple s with 27 in 1929.In 1937, Riley became the playing manager with
Beatrice, Nebraska , "Blues" in the Class DNebraska State League . Although the Blues finished well below .500 that year, Riley won the NSL batting title with a .372batting average . In 1938, the Blues posted a winning mark and Riley repeated as batting champ with a .365 average, while also leading the NSL inruns batted in . He would manage for 11 seasons (1937-38; 1940-41; 1945-51) in the minor leagues, including stints in thefarm system s of the Brooklyn Dodgers and the Phillies. Riley led the Class CCanadian-American League inhome run s with 32 in 1941 and the Class DPONY League with 13 in 1945, when he was 39 years old.Over his long minor league playing career, Riley batted .314 with 2,418 hits and 248 home runs. In April 1944, at age 37, Riley appeared in four games for the Phillies (also known in 1943-44 as the "Blue Jays"), with 12
at bat s, one hit (adouble ), and one RBI — for a career MLB batting average of .083. As a manager, he led the Schenectady "Blue Jays" to the 1947 Can-Am League championship.Leon Riley died in Schenectady at age 64 in September 1970.
References
*Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., "The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball," 1997 edition. Durham, N.C.:
Baseball America .
*Johnson, Lloyd, ed., "The Minor League Register." Durham, N.C.:Baseball America , 1994.
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