AUBURN, Ala. – With resumes that include College World Series appearances, MLB World Series championships, program records, SEC titles and post-baseball career success, four former Auburn standouts shared stories and advice Saturday at the 23rd annual Auburn Diamond Club preseason banquet.
With 550 Auburn baseball supporters filling the floor of Neville Arena, Terry Leach, Jeff Leatherman, Jay Waggoner and Grant Dayton relived their glory days on the Plains.
Leach, who came to Auburn from Selma, Alabama, helped pitch the Tigers to the 1976 College World Series. An arm injury his senior season transformed Leach from a power pitcher to a sidearmer, an adjustment that led an 11-year big league career that included a 1991 World Series title with the Minnesota Twins.
"I only threw 80 miles an hour in the big leagues," Leach recalled. "That takes guts when you're pitching against Frank Thomas, Bo Jackson or Mike Schmidt. My 80 miles an hour was better than my 95 miles an hour. It taught me how to adapt and move on. Don't quit."
'I loved the game': Terry Leach, a 1991 World Series champion, helped pitch Auburn to the 1976 College World Series
In an 18-year professional career, Leach had only one guaranteed contract.
"I loved the game," he said. "Every year I had to make the team. It got to be a normal thing."
Leatherman, an infielder from 1988-91, helped the Tigers win the 1989 SEC Tournament before playing professionally in the Pirates' organization and eventually becoming a physical therapist.
An Auburn resident, Leatherman sees similarities between the Tigers' program under former coach Hal Baird and current coach Butch Thompson.
"He taught us to do things the right way, to prepare and be hard-nosed, and to handle yourself with class. We owe a lot of that to Coach Baird. He put us in a good place to have success," Leatherman said. "The great thing about it is I see the same things now. They've got the same values. We're really proud of the state of the Auburn baseball program."
Waggoner, a Birmingham native who starred for Auburn from 1992-95, led the Tigers to the 1994 College World Series with a .409 batting average.
"We had a bunch of guys on that team who liked to compete," Waggoner said. "We weren't intimidated, we weren't scared. A really special team."
Like Leatherman, Waggoner expressed pride in Auburn's accomplishments under Thompson, including two trips to Omaha in the past four postseasons, hosting back-to-back NCAA regionals for the first time, and consecutive top-5 SEC finishes for the first time in 20 years.
"We were never an easy out," recalled Waggoner, the program's career hits leader. "You knew when you played Auburn you had to show up. The competitiveness that Butch and his staff have instilled back into this program makes us extremely proud."
'Auburn prepared me for life': Grant Dayton pitched five MLB seasons with the Dogers and Braves
As Auburn's pitching coach in 2006, Thompson recruited Dayton from Huntsville, Alabama.
"He's a great role model and you find comfort in that as an 18-year-old," said Dayton, who earned Auburn's Friday night starting role as a redshirt freshman in 2008. "There's nothing like pitching under the lights. If I had to choose one moment about my career at Auburn, it would be Friday night starting. That was a lot of fun. Auburn prepared me for life."
Dayton started for three years from 2008-10 and earned his Auburn University engineering degree before pitching five MLB seasons with the Los Angeles Dodgers and Atlanta Braves from 2016-21.
The panelists concluded their time on stage by offering words of wisdom to Auburn's 2024 team, which begins the season Friday vs. Eastern Kentucky on Opening Day on The Plains.
"Don't let anybody tell you that you can't do it," Leach said. "You've got to be positive about yourself. Don't let anybody put you down. Don't ever stop."
'Be intentional': Jeff Leatherman (middle) helped Auburn win the 1989 SEC Tournament championship
"Be intentional with what you do. Give 100 percent effort. You do not want to have regrets when you leave," Leatherman said. "This is your family. The group I was blessed to be with, they're my brothers through life. Develop relationships. Spend time with one another. I promise you will not regret that."
Waggoner told the Tigers, "Do what you can to make this about your team. The things you remember forever are the team accomplishments. This program deserves a national championship. Go win a national championship. It's time, and it can happen here."
Dayton, who pitched seven seasons in the minors before getting the call to MLB, had the last word.
"Don't forget that you are students as well," Dayton said. "You're going to a great university. Take advantage of that.
"Don't give up. Giving up is not something that people at Auburn do. Keep grinding, and if you're not in that starting lineup, don't let that affect you. There's always going to be somebody ahead of you and better than you. So what? Don't give up.
"Don't quit. Keep working, keep your head down and grind. Good things can happen and doors can open."
550 Auburn baseball fans attended the 23rd annual Diamond Club preseason banquet
Jeff Shearer is a Senior Writer at AuburnTigers.com. Follow him on Twitter: @jeff_shearer
