Memorial

I visit The Novotel Hotel at Olympic Park, Sydney, nearly every year since 2003 to reflect on Leigh's life. This year, I’ll be there on August 8, 2025, en route to New York. I’ve written two e-books about Leigh: Leaving Australia 'Again': Before the After and Leaving Australia, 'Again': Book 2 ‘After’.

In 2008 and 2009, I visited U.S. stadiums where Leigh pitched, including Phenix City, Alabama, Lakewood, New Jersey, Hagerstown, Maryland, and others in North Carolina, Georgia, and South Carolina.

I will always love you, whatever you are doing, on whatever plane you are.

This world was only a stop along the way. I am with you always.

Your Father, for a mere twenty years

View Leigh's Life Slideshow Leigh's Guestbook Leigh's Facebook Leigh's YouTube Australian Idol

Leigh's Story

Baseball was just a small part of who Leigh was. His public persona was a shadow masking a painful inner life, which I’ve come to understand years after his passing. On March 12, 2009, reading his friends’ Facebook posts, I realized baseball was secondary to them. Leigh once wrote, “Baseball is my job, it is not me.” His friends loved him for who he was, not his sport.

Leigh’s pitching was an art form. At 16, an Atlanta Braves scout clocked him at 92 mph. On the mound, he controlled the universe, yet he saw baseball as a job honed from daily practice since age seven, when he vowed to play for the NY Yankees. In rural South Australia, where Aussie Rules and cricket dominated, baseball was rare.

Leigh’s 100+ Facebook friends never mention his baseball career—they miss their friend. I miss him every day. His ashes remain with me, as I’m unsure where to scatter them. Perhaps Mt. Compass or Victor Harbor, where we were happy, but not the U.S., Sydney, or Adelaide.

Leigh Neuage Baseball Rookie Card Front Leigh Neuage Australian Idol Appearance Leigh Neuage Baseball Rookie Card Back

Baseball Career

Australian National Teams

  1. August 1997 (age 14): U-15 Team, Brisbane, Australia
  2. July 1998 (age 15): U-16 Team, World Championships, Fairfield Heights, Illinois, USA (Australia 4th)
  3. July 1999 (age 16): National Team, Johannesburg, South Africa
  4. July 1999 (age 16): Schoolboys Team, Lismore, NSW, Australia
  5. July 2000 (age 17): Schoolboys Team, Florida, USA
  6. July 2000 (age 17): U-18 Team, Canada
  7. December 2000 (age 17): International Baseball League, Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia
  8. November 2001 (age 18): World Cup, Taiwan

South Australian State Teams

  1. January 1997 (age 13): U-14 Squad, Glenelg, South Australia
  2. January 1998 (age 14): U-16 Squad, Canberra, ACT
  3. March 1998 (age 14): Schoolboy Team, Brisbane, Queensland
  4. January 1999 (age 15): U-16 Squad, Alice Springs, NT
  5. May 1999 (age 15): Schoolboy Team, Perth, WA
  6. January 2000 (age 16): U-18 Squad, Perth, WA
  7. May 2000 (age 16): Schoolboy Team, Brisbane, Queensland
  8. January 2001 (age 17): U-18 Squad, Sydney, NSW

Awards

February 2001 (age 17): Signed with LA Dodgers Leigh Neuage Signing with LA Dodgers

Clubs: Southern Districts Baseball Club (1991–2003), South Georgia Waves (last U.S. club).

SASI Interview, November 2001

Legacy

I’ll celebrate Leigh’s life on August 16, 2019, at the Novotel Hotel, Sydney Olympic Park, where he left us at 5 AM in 2003. His radio show with Sacha (PDF), first homepage (1998, here), and 1998 U-16 World Series live on. See his U-18 National Squad and Canadian guestbook from 2000.

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Leaving Australia