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How A Prisoner Who Never Played Baseball Started For The Detroit Tigers | The Ron LeFlore Story

Press Box Chronicles with Jeff Pearlman

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We've had some insane stories on the is show, but today might take the cake. It's 1969, and Ron LeFlore is a kid in Detroit who goes to prison for armed robbery, stealing $35,000 in cash. Less than 5 years later, having never played sports in his life, he's the starting centerfielder for the Detroit Tigers.

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20 Comments

@barleymepodcast2301 6 months ago

This story is almost as crazy as the idea of a 28 year old Jim Leyland

@J7jjjk 6 months ago (edited)

One thing you missed - 1976 he had a 30 game hitting streak. Only Tigers to have better hitting streaks to this day are Ty Cobb and Miguel Cabrera. Love your you tube channel so much Jeff! Thanks for great videos!

@Subo23 6 months ago

Billy Martin had his flaws but he was definitely the right guy to go see Ron LeFlore in prison

@earlbanister5514 6 months ago

I remember Ron LeFlore when he was with the Tigers and saw him play against the White Sox a few times. I knew he had been in prison but I didn't know he never played baseball before he went to prison. That is just insane.

@stripmin41 6 months ago

Ron Leflore went from stealing money to stealing bases.

@leilanifeedingtime4992 6 months ago

Ron Leflore signed baseball cards for me when I was a kid and was more polite than most MLB players. Interesting crazy story, thank you...

@davidclark8543 6 months ago (edited)

One In A Million: The Ron Leflore Story starring Levar Burton premiered on CBS-TV in 1978 & played on CBS-Late Night a few times later as well. I remember watching every showing during the era, at one point recording it to VHS & later bought the studio VHS. Thank you Jeff once again for your Youtube channel! I often put it on & rewatch several! Your stories bring back hundreds of memories of mid-late 70s/80s childhood! If there were Youtube channel awards lists, yours is an obvious winner!

@stripmin41 6 months ago

455 slolen bases, 1283 hits pretty impressive.

@I-Like-Ike666 6 months ago

He had a way better career than a LOT of can't miss prospects...

@jdbabwe 6 months ago

Over 1200 hits as a Major League Baseball player. Yes . . . this is a great story. Thank.

@JeffreyMcKenney-z9n 6 months ago

I met LeFlore at a charity golf tournament in St. Petersburg not too long after he left baseball. I recognized him as he drove up to my group and was genuinely excited to meet him. The guys I played with weren't anywhere as excited to see him as I was because they all knew him from his involvement in a local adult league baseball team they played in. To a person they all said he was a great guy. I didn't doubt them.

@davidpierini3316 6 months ago

I want to make a side comment... As I hear you reading newspaper accounts from back in the day, I'm struck by how good the writing/storytelling was. I feel like that is disappearing from newswriting because reporters are required to post live updates every 15 minutes. I work at a newspaper that doesn't publish this way, and I try to use the time to tell good stories. But we still feel the pressure to produce, and readers now are so distracted by social media and skeptical of what they consider legacy media, so it can be rather challenging to get readers as interested in a story as you think they should be. Call me old-fashioned and yes, I pushing 60, but there is a place for good storytelling. Press Box Chronicles is proof. You tell stories with captivating detail, offering insights and surprises that speak to your skills as a reporter. I also grew up south of Detroit during Ron LeFlore's rise and never loved a team more than the Tigers of the 70s and 80s.

@herchelleonwood7463 6 months ago

Jim Leland was a very respectable & fair coach/man . Jim spent years in the tiger farm system before becoming a Major League Manager.

@ajspuhler 6 months ago

LeFlore was a little before my time, so while I knew who he was, I never knew his background until this video. What a phenomenal story! Thanks for putting this together, Jeff. Great stuff.

@marksummers5386 5 months ago

We still love him in Richmond, and he just played college here. Every place he’s played claims him as a hometown hero and that says a lot.

@Satyric7 6 months ago

LeFlore briefly played high school basketball and football, and gained some local notoriety as a terrific athlete with a bunch of potential that wasn't realized at the time because his youthful indiscretions. They couldn't keep him on the team for any period of time.

@marcusgrandon3640 5 months ago

As a Detroiter who idolized Ron LeFlore in my youth, I really appreciated this video.

@clarenceleblanc4591 2 months ago

As a french kid in Canada...Leflore was close enough to Lafleur...so we immediately all loved him.

@RichardBriggs-ut8bb 5 months ago

I was 10 years old in 1976. I remember those Tigers very well. The Bird was very exciting and gave us a lot of hope.

@SeanHomsher-ef3mx 6 months ago

Great story! I remember Ron LeFlore as a kid, and I loved seeing him out there doing his thing. Even as a child I knew his story was special. I’m glad he’s alive, doing okay and taking responsibility for his life. In today’s game with the acknowledgment of mental health, I’m sure his story would be different and might’ve progressed differently.