Leslie Charles Spikes was a Major League Baseball

Major League Baseball

Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...

 player from 1972 to 1980 for the New York Yankees

New York Yankees

The New York Yankees are a professional baseball team based in the The Bronx, New York. They compete in Major League Baseball in the American League's East Division...

, Cleveland Indians

Cleveland Indians

The Cleveland Indians are a professional baseball team based in Cleveland, Ohio. They are in the Central Division of Major League Baseball's American League. Since , they have played in Progressive Field. The team's spring training facility is in Goodyear, Arizona...

, Detroit Tigers

Detroit Tigers

The Detroit Tigers are a Major League Baseball team located in Detroit, Michigan. One of the American League's eight charter franchises, the club was founded in Detroit in as part of the Western League. The Tigers have won four World Series championships and have won the American League pennant...

, and Atlanta Braves

Atlanta Braves

The Atlanta Braves are a professional baseball club based in Atlanta, Georgia. The Braves are a member of the Eastern Division of Major League Baseball's National League. The Braves have played in Turner Field since 1997....

. He also played 26 games for the Chunichi Dragons

Chunichi Dragons

The are a professional baseball team based in Nagoya, the chief city in the Chubu region of Japan. The team is in the Central League. They won the 2007 Japan Series and 2007 Asia Series.-History:...

 in Japan in . He mostly played the outfield

Outfield

The outfield is a sporting term used in cricket and baseball to refer to the area of the field of play further from the batsman or batter than the infield...

. His playing career nickname was "The Bogalusa Bomber."

Spikes was drafted in the first round of the 1969 Major League Baseball Draft

1969 Major League Baseball Draft

-First round selections:The following are the first round picks in the 1969 Major League Baseball draft.* Did not sign- Background :The Washington Senators tabbed slugging outfielder Jeff Burroughs of Wilson High School in Long Beach, CA as the nation's number one pick...

 by the Yankees. He made his major league debut with the Yankees in 1972. Following the 1972 season, he was traded by the Yankees with John Ellis

John Ellis (baseball)

John Charles Ellis , is a former professional baseball player who played first base and catcher in the Major Leagues from 1969-81. He played for the New York Yankees, Cleveland Indians, and Texas Rangers....

, Jerry Kenney

Jerry Kenney

Gerald Tennyson Kenney is a retired American Major League Baseball infielder. He is from Beloit, Wisconsin.-Baseball career:...

 and Rusty Torres

Rusty Torres

Rosando "Rusty" Torres Hernández is a former professional baseball outfielder. He played all or part of nine season in Major League Baseball for five different teams...

 to the Indians for Graig Nettles

Graig Nettles

Graig Nettles , nicknamed "Puff", is a former Major League Baseball third baseman. During a 22-year baseball career, he played for the Minnesota Twins , Cleveland Indians , New York Yankees , San Diego Padres , Atlanta Braves and Montreal Expos .Nettles was one of the best...

 and Jerry Moses

Jerry Moses

Gerald Braheen Moses is a retired American professional baseball player. A catcher, he signed a bonus contract with the Boston Red Sox in and spent his early Major League Baseball career with the Bosox, but over the course of his nine years in MLB Moses would play for seven different teams...

. He played for the Indians through the 1977 season, when he was traded to the Tigers for Tom Veryzer

Tom Veryzer

Thomas Martin Veryzer , is a former Major League Baseball shortstop who played from 1973-1984 with the Detroit Tigers , Cleveland Indians , New York Mets , and Chicago Cubs . Veryzer was drafted by the Tigers in the 1st round of the 1971 amateur draft...

.

He is referenced in the fifth-ever episode of Cheers

Cheers

Cheers is an American situation comedy television series that ran for 11 seasons from 1982 to 1993. It was produced by Charles/Burrows/Charles Productions, in association with Paramount Network Television for NBC, and was created by the team of James Burrows, Glen Charles, and Les Charles...

, "The Coach's Daughter," during a scene in which Coach Ernie Pantuso is encouraged to and finally does confront his daughter about her fiance.

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