Leonid Korneev

Leonid Korneev
also transliterated as Korneyev

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 5", Weight 212 lb.

• Born December 14, 1956 in Moscow USSR

Biographical Information

Leonid Korneev played in several international tournaments. His son Oleg Korneev pitched in the US minors.

Korneev was a world champion in handball before getting involved in baseball. In the first baseball game ever between the USSR national team and the USA national team, he got the first hit and then added another later, a bright spot in a 17-0 loss for the USSR. He played for the USSR in the 1991 Intercontinental Cup, their second-oldest player, with German Gulbit born in 1955. He was the team's top performer. He hit .370/.393/.593 with 5 runs, 4 RBI and 3 doubles in 8 games, starting at DH, backing up Ilia Onokhov at 1B and posting a 6.30 ERA (19 H, 16 R, 7 ER, 5 BB, 8 K in 10 IP). He led the team in average (.074 ahead of future minor leaguer Yevgeny Puchkov), slugging (.149 ahead of Puchkov), OBP (.083 ahead of Puchkov), hits (10, 2 ahead of Puchkov), doubles, runs and RBI (tied with Puchkov and Sacha Krupenchekov). He was second in batters fanned, one behind Rinat Makhmoutov. He got their only win in their nine games, beating France with a near-complete game (8 2/3 IP, 5 R, 3 ER) in a 11-5 win; Gulbit closed it out. He also had their lone homer of the tournament during that game, a shot off Etienne Coste.

At age 36, Korneev was a workhorse for the Russian national team in the 1993 European Championship. He was 1-3 with a 7.56 ERA, working 25 of their 61 innings. He saw limited time at the plate (1 for 4, 2B). He tied Andrei Tselykovsky for second on Russia in ERA, .26 behind Yury Zhirov and led the team in games pitched (5, one ahead of Timur Triphonenkov). He again had their only win, beating a much older European team, Belgium, allowing 6 runs (3 earned) in 7 1/3 after relieving Triphonenkov to top Wim Kerstens 11-8. He led the 1993 Euros in innings pitched (7 ahead of Patrick Klerx), games pitched (one ahead of Roberto Cabalisti, Christophe Gouilleux, Guillaume Coste, Roderick Hopkins, Triphonenkov and Joeri Loykens), starts (3, tied with Loykens and Patrice Briones), complete games (2, tied with Klerx) and losses. He was 6th in strikeouts (13, between Geoffry Kohl and Klaus Knüttel) and tied Roger De Saedeleer for 2nd in walks (15, 4 behind Tselykovsky).

The right-hander was 0-2 with a 4.91 ERA in the 1995 European Championship. The veteran also was 1 for 6 at the plate. He was 4th on the 6-man Russian staff in ERA but was better than the team mean of 5.49. He tied for 7th in the event with two starts and tied Alexander Bogatyrev and Lukas Van Der Linden for 3rd in losses (one behind Tine Zaletel and Oleg Venger). He coached for Russia in the 2003 Baseball World Cup, when his son Oleg was on the staff.

In the Russian League, he played for the Moscow Red Devils. He was still active as a player-coach for Moskvich in 1999, at age 42.