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Henry Edward Leiber (January 17, 1911 – November 8, 1993) was an American professional baseball player. He played as an outfielder in Major League Baseball from 1933 to 1942 with the New York Giants and Chicago Cubs.
Leiber is remembered for hitting one of the longest Batted 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 Beanball 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 July 4, 1939, he hit 3 home runs in a game in a losing effort against the St. Louis Cardinals.
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.Neyer, pp. 111-112.
In a 10-year major league career, Leiber played in 813 Games played, accumulating 808 hits in 2,805 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.
In 1963, Leiber was inducted into the Arizona Sports Hall of Fame. He died in Tucson, Arizona at the age of 82.
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