Al Leiter's appearance on CenterStage will premiere Wednesday, April 25 following Twins-Yankees coverage. Here are some highlights from Leiter's interview with Michael Kay on CenterStage:

Leiter's surprise discovery upon his estranged father's sudden passing

My father died suddenly at 61 years old in 1988. I remember getting a call, and my mom said my dad passed, so my oldest brother went up to get all of his stuff. My father was so proud. He didn't want to be that dad that, because he was kind of not there and was there infrequently, to then all of a sudden (say), "Hey, son." So… there (were) a couple (of) shoeboxes (in his father's apartment) that my oldest brother gave to me that (contained) numerous tickets that my father would buy (to games that Leiter pitched in). (He) never came to me and asked… "Hey, can I get free tickets to a Yankees game?" He paid for 'em. He went in, he watched, he left. (It was) …so thoughtful on so many levels…not want to be in my face. Which, you know, as a father now, I just think it's sad.

Al Leiter… engineer?

I thought I was gonna be some sort of engineer. I was a good high school student. I chose The University of Florida but I had scholarships at Stanford and Northwestern and some really terrific academic schools.

Irritating manager Bucky Dent when Dent told Leiter that he was going to the Majors

In 1987… Bucky Dent is my manager (of the Columbus Clippers), and Champ Summers is his go-to hitting coach. Champ comes in; this is in Columbus, and he says, "Bucky wants to see you." I go into Bucky's office, and Bucky's trying to be cute, you know, with some little… small talk. And then he says, "You're going to New York." And my kneejerk reaction was, "For what?" And Bucky, Bucky says, "Beep beep beep beep, you, boop boop boop, what do you, what do you mean for what?" And then he said, "You're going to Yankee Stadium." I get the call from the manager of the Triple A team that I'm going to New York and I ask him, "For what?" I wasn't that guy: "Ah, I'm gonna… be a Hall of Famer." I wasn't. It was always just kind of a grind.

Leiter was star struck when he made his Major League debut for the Yankees on September 15th, 1987 against the Milwaukee Brewers

I think that was a moment where I can honestly say that I felt like I was out of my body. I was standing on the mound, shaking. (Catcher) Rick Cerone behind the plate. I got (first baseman Don) Mattingly at first, (Willie) Randolph, (Mike Pagliarulo) Pags, (Bobby) Meacham, (Rickey) Henderson, (Dave) Winfield… and I'm on the mound! And Mattingly comes in! He goes, "All right all right, I got first base side… for the bunt." I'm like, "Oh, that's Don Mattingly." I'm like, "Oh no, I gotta pitch!" (The PA announcer says), "Now batting, Paul Molitor." Oh my God, Paul Molitor!

Leiter will forever be grateful to Mets manager Bobby Valentine for leaving him in in the 9th inning of Game 5 in the 2000 World Series against the Yankees

I remember as the game was going on and I gave up two solo homers. Bernie Williams hits a homer and then Derek (Jeter) hits a homer. I remember coming in off the field and I knew what (Mets manager) Bobby Valentine was gonna say. …forget the whole pitch count thing. I wasn't gonna pick up a ball until January. So I didn't care whether I had 128, 158, or 108 (pitches). So I come in, and Dave Wallace is the pitching coach and he comes down to the end of the dugout… toward the first base side as opposed to home plate side. Bobby Valentine had him ask, "Go ask him how he feels." And I was really loud and I probably said some things that certainly I don't want kids to hear. "Gah, I'm fine," you know, one of those things. And I wanted not (only) Dave Wallace to hear it, but I wanted Bobby Valentine to hear. So Bobby let me go out again, and … I get the two outs… (then) Posada (walks) and then two pitches later, (Scott) Brosius, boom (gets a hit)! I'm so appreciative to this day; every time I get a chance to see Bobby Valentine, I thank him, because that was, even though we lost… you know, it really was a moment for me. I know it sounds kind of weird. I ended up giving up two runs… in the ninth inning and we lose, but I was appreciative that he trusted me… to have me go out in the ninth inning in a 2-2 World Series game.

Fellow Yankees pitcher Dave Righetti saved the game ball from Leiter's first Major League win

So Rags (Righetti) comes in, he saves the game. So Rags comes over with the ball and he gives me the ball and he goes, "Sign it." What do I know? So I take the ball and normally, a team ball, you never, you never sign on the horseshoe. You save (that) for the manager. Rags gives me the ball. He didn't tell me what it was for, and I sign it really small on the horseshoe. And you know Righetti, he's like, "What are you, you know, beep beep beep. I wanted you to sign on the sweet spot 'cause I wanted to save the ball." Dave Righetti saved my first win. Like, how cool is that? I'm like, "Rags, I'm sorry, I'll sign it again." "No, you know, I'll just leave it." (Righetti said). But I thought, you know, Rags…(thought)…"Hey, maybe this guy'll be really good."

Leiter kiddingly thinks that Derek Jeter owes him

I helped out Derek a lot. He gets a measly little crummy little broken bat single up the middle (off of Leiter in the 2000 All-Star Game), he gets the MVP in the 2000 All-Star Game in Atlanta, and then he hits a home run (off Leiter) in the World Series and he got the MVP of the World Series, right? Ah…Derek, you owe me!

Leiter calls Yankees manager Dallas Green's leaving him in for 160 pitches on April 14th, 1989 "abuse"

(Green) said he was trying to stretch me out. You know, think about this today. Right? We're getting managers now, we start in the World Series. 84 pitches, they're in the fifth inning, he's throwing a shutout and they take him out. It blows my mind, and they can tell me about the OPS and the third time around and all that, I don't care. But now we're talking a hundred pitches, a guy's pitching a gem and then we're taking him out in the fifth inning. 160 pitches in a game to me is abuse. And for Dallas to say he was trying to stretch me out, you know, God rest his soul but I mean that… wasn't right. I go one more start in Kansas City, I remember my arm was hurting, and then I come back to New York and they trade me. And I pitch one game for the Blue Jays. I got traded for Jesse Barfield and I couldn't lift my arm.

Praising Blue Jays GM Pat Gillick who stuck with Leiter despite his having two shoulder surgeries in three years

My first shoulder operation, I'm 23. It didn't take or it wasn't complete. I have a second shoulder operation at 25. I mean you talk about the prime of your young adult baseball life. So there was some doubt as to whether I would actually come back.
Pat Gillick, who was the architect and general manager of the Blue Jays at the time, who really liked me obviously, he was trading an all-star outfielder (Jesse Barfield) for a young guy (Leiter) who really hasn't established himself yet. He said, "So long as you don't give up on yourself, I won't give up on you." And it stuck with me. I mean, over the years you know, seeing Mr. Gillick, I always thank him for it.

Hitting a double in Game Four of the 1992 World Series for the Blue Jays after not batting since High School, which frustrated and amazed the Phillies' John Kruk

I'm in the bullpen (for the World Series) so I wasn't one of the starters so I didn't…even warm up. You know…take any hacks (at batting practice). (Blue Jays pitcher) Todd Stottlemyre starts the game and gets hit around a bit. I then run down to the, to the bullpen at the Vet (Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia), because Cito (Blue Jays manager Cito Gaston) says, "You might have to get in there." So in the second inning I come in the game. I'm batting that next inning. And the guys are like, "You're on deck." I was like, "I'm on deck?" So I wear (John) Olerud's helmet. Ed Sprague gave me his, his bat. And the first pitch is right there. I actually put kind of a decent swing on it and I hit a line drive to left and I get a double. (Phillies first baseman) John Kruk is trailer on the play. And 'Kruky' didn't have a whole lot of hits during that series. It's Game Four. And he's saying some off-color things and he goes, "It's not that easy." "Like I know Kruky. I haven't had an at-bat in 10 years, since high school." And he's like, "What?" (in disbelief).

Expressing to Marlins GM Dave Dombrowski that he wanted to be traded to his hometown Mets in 1998

Dave Dombrowski…who was the general manager of the Marlins at the time. He said "The Cardinals want you and I have a nice package of prospects, and the Mets want you." I was like, "Dave, I mean if, if you could get me to the Mets, I mean I grew up a Mets fan." And he said, "Listen, I'm not gonna trade you on the strength of that, but I'm telling you, if it's close, I'm glad you told me." The next day they announce the trade. I get traded to the Mets. It was like AJ Burnett and you know, a bunch of prospects to the Marlins.

His emotional retirement from the Yankees in a 2006 Spring Training game
I'm older but you know, I could spin the baseball (in 2006). I still had enough velocity. And Joe Torre and Cashman thought you know, hey figure out a spot in the bullpen. So I made the first WBC, the World Baseball Classic. Went out to Arizona and Southern California, we lose. Fly back to camp, and I got into Joe Torre and I said "Thank you, thank you, thank you, you know, I'm just, I'm done." Like I lost the fire. I said "So how do, so how do we do this?" He goes, "I don't know." Usually… nobody's retiring in spring training.

And I said, I said, "Well, I feel great." Just give me a chance to throw an inning. He goes, "Okay." Randy Johnson's pitching (for the Yankees). Randy throws like seven innings, he's got like 50 pitches. So he (Torre) calls down, he says listen, "I can't give you a whole inning but you'll get one batter." So I got out, Eduardo Perez, groundball to A-Rod, over (to) Giambi. And here comes (Ron Guidry) Gator. And he (Guidry) hugs me and it's a little emotional and I remember Alex and Derek saying, "What's going on?" And I turned to Derek and I'm like, "I just retired." He goes, "What?" And I walked off. I go into the dugout. Here, they're all hugging me… and here comes Yogi Berra and he gives me a hug. And I'm telling you, it was like fast forward of 20 years, ish, 25. And I started losing it a little bit. I turn around and here's Gil Patterson (Leiter's first pitching coach in the minors, in 1984) who was my guy from Oneonta, my first year of pro ball. He gives me a hug and I start to cry. Like, it was so beyond emotional.