Yankees: Jim Leyritz answers some questions about the ’96 team and his career

MG:
Who was the funniest teammate you had throughout your career?
JL:
I would say David Cone. The one story that I always remember because it involved my father, was before game three of the ’96 World Series. My dad and I were sitting in a hotel bar in Atlanta. It was about 11 o’clock at night, and David Cone was sitting there with his father at the bar. My dad looked at me and said, “Hey, isn’t Cone pitching tomorrow?” I said, “Yeah”, “Then why is he at the bar?” And I said, “Well dad, if you were pitching game three of the World Series with your team down 2-0, you think you would be able to sleep without any drinks?” Coney was a great teammate.
MG:
Cone ended up having a great performance in game three.
JL:
A great performance to go along with Bernie Williams’ home run.

MG:
We mentioned the 1995 season, and one of the main headlines that year was Don Mattingly’s first postseason appearance. Don Mattingly is one of the most beloved Yankees of all time and he is not in the hall of fame. What are your thoughts on Mattingly’s case for Cooperstown?
JL:
If Harold Baines could get in, Don Mattingly should get in. But I do understand the argument that if Donnie could have played two or three more years, he would’ve been a shoo-in. Unfortunately, a lot of the Hall of Fame voting is longevity, and unfortunately, Donnie didn’t have such a long career.

MG:
Who was your favorite pitcher to catch?
JL:
Well, I was Andy Pettitte’s personal catcher in ’95 and ’96. And we did pretty well together. I was also Sterling Hitchcock’s personal catcher in ’95 and then again in ’98 when I joined the Padres. I take a lot of pride in catching Sterling because when I got traded to the Padres, they were getting ready to put him in the bullpen. And Bruce Bochy called me in and said, “You think you can catch Hitchcock?” I told him that I caught Sterling in New York, and Bochy ended up leaving him in the rotation. Sterling wound up finishing that year as one of our better pitchers and then went ahead and won the National League’s Most Valuable Player in the playoffs.

MG:
You faced your former team, the New York Yankees in the 1998 World Series…
JL:
Yes, and I went 0-10.
MG:
How was it playing against your old team?
JL:
It was strange. You have to remember that my personality was very outgoing and being the loud mouth. So I kind had fun with it. I remember when we got to New York, Steve Lyons (who was still working for FOX) and I rode the subway together, because he had heard the story that I always took the 4 train to the Stadium, and so he wanted to see if I was still taking it, and I did. But I think the one thing that I take away from all that is there was nothing like playing in New York City and to make it there, to have the career that I had- not necessarily the career, but the postseasons, it made it really strange to be facing them in ’98 and then get traded back in ’99. I hit the last home run of the century. So that was it.
MG:
Were you well accepted by the New York fans when you returned to Yankee Stadium?
JL:
Well, it’s funny. The very first time I came back to Yankee stadium as a member of the Anaheim Angels in 1997, they played “Welcome Back Carter” and had this whole video montage with my highlights when I was out in the outfield stretching and I got a standing ovation. I returned in 1998 with the Padres. And when I was introduced at the World Series, the very first time in New York, I got a standing ovation again. The next guy to get introduced was Wally Joyner and they booed the living crap out of him. Wally ran up to me and he goes, “Thanks man”.
MG:
You can’t compare Wally Joyner to Jim Leyritz in the hearts of Yankee fans.
JL:
Exactly.

MG:
Who was your favorite manager to play for?
JL:
I would say Bruce Bochy. Bochy, being a former catcher, was sympathetic to the catchers. Additionally, he just was so approachable, so communicative as far as if you were going to play that day or not. I think a lot of it had to do with being in the National League that he really convinced me that “Jimmy, you need to come to the ballpark every day ready to play, whether you’re in a lineup or not because at some point, you are going to play because you can play so many positions and you can hit coming off the bench “.