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Miami Marlins Top 50 Of All-Time: 37. Al Leiter

Al Leiter was the architect of the first no-hitter in Florida Marlins history. Today we look back on the contributions that Leiter made on the field towards Florida's first World Series title.

Al Leiter, Florida Marlins
Al Leiter, Florida Marlins

Al Leiter, a left handed pitcher, was selected by the New York Yankees in the second round of the 1984 amateur draft.

After pitching in parts of three seasons with the Yankees, Leiter joined the Toronto Blue Jays

Injuries limited him to 15.2 innings over the next four seasons with the club. Once Leiter was healthy, he would go on to make 82 starts for the Jays from 1993 through 1995, posting a 26-24 record with a 4.20 ERA.

In 1996, Leiter joined the Marlins. He pitched his way onto the All-Star roster on the strength of his 16-12 record with a 2.93 ERA and 200 strikeouts. He led the National League with 6.4 hits allowed per nine innings.

His no-hitter against the Colorado Rockies on May 11 was the first in Marlins history. He walked two and hit one batter while striking out six as the Marlins cruised to an 11-0 victory at home.

Leiter was also an integral part of the Marlins' first World Series title, helping them on the push to the '97 playoffs with an 11-9 record.

Just prior to the 1998 season, Leiter was traded along with Ralph Millard to the New York Mets for Robert Stratton, A.J. Burnett and Jesus Sanchez.

The lefty would go on to find success with the Mets for seven seasons, posting a 95-67 record before rejoining the Marlins for a spell in 2005. He would finish his career with the Yankees.

He totalled a 30-28 record for Florida with a 4.07 ERA, allowing 7.5 hits per nine innings for the franchise.

Leiter currently works as a studio analyst and color commentator for the YES Network, the MLB Network, and FOX.

Photographs by cstreet.us, thelastminute, turtlemom nancy , fesek, kthypryn, justinwright, sue_elias, pointnshoot, and scrapstothefuture used in background montage under Creative Commons. Thank you.