Ron Leflore debuts

On August 1, 1974 Ron Leflore debut for the Detroit Tigers going 0-4 vs the Milwaukee Brewers.

Leflore will go on to be a prominent player over the next several seasons making the 1976 All Star team. He will also become the first player to lead both leagues in stolen bases.

He was Incarcerated on April 28, 1970, the first organized baseball league LeFlore played in was for inmates. Jimmy Karalla, a fellow inmate who was imprisoned for extortion, convinced his longtime friend Jimmy Butsicaris who co-owned a Detroit bar frequented by Detroit sports celebrities, to speak to his good friend Billy Martin, then-manager of the Detroit Tigers, to ask him to observe LeFlore.[2][3] Martin visited Jackson State Prison on May 23, 1973. Martin then helped LeFlore get permission for day-parole and a tryout at Tiger Stadium in June.

In July 1973 the Tigers signed LeFlore to a contract which enabled him to meet the conditions for parole. He was paid a $5,000 bonus and $500 per month for the rest of the 1973 season. Assigned to the Clinton Pilots in the Class A Midwest League, and managed by Jim Leyland, LeFlore hit .277.

The next year he played for the Lakeland Tigers in the Class A Florida State League, and after hitting .331 with 45 steals in 102 games was promoted to the Evansville Triplets of the Class AAA American Association, where he played nine games.

The following season, he made the major league club out of spring training.

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