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Leeman, Ronnie (2002)

Writer: Maine Baseball HOF
Maine Baseball HOF
Aug 12, 2019
2 min read

Ronald S. Leeman

Ron Leeman of South Portland today joins fellow 1952 All-Telegram League selection Dick Black in the Maine Baseball Hall of Fame Class of 2002.

With ball playing brothers Dick and Duddy, Ron’s sandlot days were spent on Jordan Field behind the Frank I. Brown School on Highland Avenue in South Portland. There he came under the tutelage of Keith Jordan, five-letterman at Portland High School, who coaxed Ron into catching in fifth grade, a position he never abandoned throughout his career. Ron played alongside Eddie Norton, Doug Standley, and Gene Class and won city championships in three sports.

Following a year at Norway High School and the death of Ron’s father, the family returned to South Portland. Ron became the team’s starting catcher as a sophomore and enjoyed three outstanding years under coach Henry LaVallee capped by his All-Telegram League selection as a senior in 1952. Leeman hit .371 that year and led the league in home runs, including a memorable one off that tough lefty from Cheverus, Dick Black.

Leeman’s South Portland teammates included Dickie Coggins, Ron Harris, John Libby and Gerry Davis and this talented Red Riot nine beat Cony for the State title in 1952.

Following graduation, Leeman spent his summer pastiming in the highly-regarded Down East League for the Farmington Flyers.

Ron attended Springfield College where he was elected captain of the freshman team and was one of four from that group chosen to play for Grand Falls, New Brunswick in the Maine-New Brunswick League that summer.

Leeman joined the Army in 1954 and played two years for Fort Devens on a post team that won the First Army Championship and was eliminated in the semi-finals of the All Army Tournament by a Fort McPherson team that featured three big-league pitchers in Vinegar Bend Mizell, Taylor Phillips, and Billy O’Dell. Leeman caught all but a couple of games during his tour and hit .379 in 1955 including a game-winning home run in the All-Army tourney off Billy Loes.

Leeman’s ability to handle big-league pitchers, both behind the plate and with bat in hand, caught the attention of professional scouts and Ron signed a contract with the Philadelphia Phillies in 1956, Ron notes wryly that his $4,000 signing bonus was four times that received by another rookie that year, Mickey Mantle of the Yankees.

Leeman only played one year of pro ball before an attractive job offer from Portland Pipe Line and family considerations lured him back home to South Portland. Leeman continued to play several years for the South Portland Merchants in the Twilight League, catching local legends Ed Hadlock and Dick Carmichael among others.

Now retired, Ron lives on Cummings Road with his wife of 47 years, the former Geraldine Lord – yes, the same Gerry Lord who was valedictorian of South Portland High School Class of 1950. Ron’s four daughters and six grandchildren all live in Maine and join us today in welcoming the lanky Red Riot into the Maine Baseball Hall of Fame.

 
 
 

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Meet the 2026 Maine Baseball Hall of Fame inductees
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Portland Press Herald 4/10/2026
https://www.pressherald.com/2026/04/10/meet-the-2026-maine-baseball-hall-of-fame-inductees/?copylink=true

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Former St. Dominic and current Gray-New Gloucester coach Bob Blackman and Cony coach Don Plourde are among the 11 members of the newest class. Four coaches currently preparing for the upcoming high school baseball season are among the 11 inductees in the 2026 Maine Baseball Hall of Fame class.

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Gray-New Gloucester’s Bob Blackman, Brewer’s Dana Corey, Hampden Academy’s Jon Perry and Cony’s Don Plourde are all part of the class that will be inducted on Oct. 4 at the Holiday Inn by the Bay in Portland. Blackman coached St. Dominic High School to nine state championships in 22 seasons before the school closed at the end of the last school year. He was named the coach at Gray-New Gloucester in September. Corey hit .359 at the University of Maine in 1971. He played two seasons in the Chicago Cubs system and has been the head coach at Brewer for 18 seasons.

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Perry hit .381 at the University of Maine in 1981 and helped the Black Bears reach the College World Series. He has coached for the past 45 seasons at the high school, American Legion and collegiate levels. 

Plourde is in his 17th season as the coach at Cony High School and has been named the KVAC Coach of the Year five times. He has been coaching at various levels for more than 30 years. 

Others earning induction are: 

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• Al Cloutier, who has been involved in baseball in Augusta as a player, Cony High and American Legion coach, Babe Ruth League director and volunteer. 

• John Kolasinski, who was a college coach at for 37 years, first at Husson and later at Siena Heights University in Michigan. He is a five-time New England Coach of the Year winner.

• Mark Littlefield, a Portland High graduate, who is now in his 36th season working on the medical staff of the New York Yankees organization. 

• Scott Littlefield, a Portland High graduate, who will be inducted posthumously. Littlefield coached at Florida State University and the University of Southern Maine before working for 34 years as a Major League Baseball scout, including 16 as a player personnel special assistant for the Texas Rangers.

• J. Ronald Livington, who will be inducted posthumously. Livingston was an All-Star infielder for the semi-pro Presque Isle Indians in the Northern Aroostook League in the 1930 and 1940s. He also coached and was a director in the South Portland National Little League.

• Mike McCullum, of Portland, who hit .338 at the University of Southern Maine and earned ABCA Division III All-American honors in 1999. 

• Jim Taylor of Lewiston, who was a founding member of the Central Maine Board of Approved Baseball Umpires and was instrumental in starting the Maine chapter of the Collegiate Baseball Umpires Association.

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Maine Baseball Hall of Fame day  Delta Dental Park aka Hadlock Field 7/19/2026
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