Leiber came up to the major leagues at the beginning of the 1933 season, and batted .200 over 6 games and 10 at-bats. However, he was reassigned to the minor leagues for the rest of the season. Leiber batted just .241 over 63 games and 187 at-bats with the Giants in
1934. Leiber was a hold-out the following spring. He eventually played in 101 games, but his numbers dropped and he only batted .279. Leiber is remembered for hitting one of the longest
fly ball outs in major league history. On October 2, 1936, during Game 2 of the
1936 World Series at the
Polo Grounds, Leiber hit a long fly ball to deep,
center field that traveled an estimated 490 feet from
home plate, before being caught by
Joe DiMaggio for the final out of the game. Leiber had a tendency to crowd the plate while hitting. During
spring training in 1937, he was
beaned by one of the fastest pitchers in history,
Bob Feller. Leiber suffered a
concussion and was bothered by dizziness for the rest of the season. However, he eventually recovered enough to play in the
1937 World Series, hitting for a .364 average in three games. Leiber was named to the
All-Star team in
1938. That December, he was traded to the Chicago Cubs, and he responded with two good seasons — hitting over .300 in 1939 and 1940 and being named to his second All-Star team. On June 23, 1941, Leiber was beaned again, this time by
Cliff Melton. He missed the rest of the season and was traded back to the New York Giants. He did play in 1942 but suffered a
calf injury, and his production suffered. Although he had never pitched at the major league level, in the final game of his MLB career, Leiber took the mound in a game against the Phillies on September 25, 1942. Leiber was able to pitch a complete game in a 9–1 loss. With World War II going on, Leiber went back to his home in Arizona. He did not return to the majors when the war ended. In a 10-year major league career, Leiber played in 813
games, accumulating 808
hits in 2,805
at bats for a .288 career batting average along with 101 home runs, 518
runs batted in and an
on-base percentage of .356. He retired with a .974
fielding percentage. ==Later life==