Tom finished his high school senior year with a record of 10-0 and an ERA of 1.53. He also had a batting average of .429. Tom earned first team All-CIF honors. Future major leaguers Fred Lynn (El Monte High School) and Eddie Bane (Westminster HS) were named to the second and third teams, respectively. The latter is now the Angels Director of Scouting.

The next step in Tom's baseball career was either the pros or college. The California Angels general manager Dick Walsh and farm and scouting director Roland Hemond huddled with my Dad to ask if Tom was leaning toward signing a pro baseball contract or pursuing his college education.

Long Beach Press-Telegram columnist Loel Schrader included the following recruiting information back in June 1970: "Lakewood High pitchers Tom Lederer and Russ McQueen are being courted by USC and Chapman. Lederer is interested in both. McQueen is pretty well committed to Chapman." Days later, Schrader provided P-T readers with an update in the Cuff Stuff section of his column: "Tom Lederer, winning pitcher in Lakewood's 5-4 victory in the CIF championship game with Ventura, appears headed for Chapman College . . . Check signals on Russ McQueen, another Lakewood pitcher. It was reported here last week that Chapman had the inside track on the Lancer righthander. But Justin Dedeaux, junior varsity baseball coach at USC, reports that McQueen told him this past Thursday that he'll join the Trojans."

Prior to attending Chapman College that fall, Tom played for the Anchorage Glacier Pilots, a summer collegiate league team that included several future major leaguers. Tom transferred to Long Beach City College the following spring after Paul Deese, the coach who recruited him to Chapman, resigned and founded the Alaskan Summer Baseball League.

Once again, I'll let the L.A. Times fill us in on the details: Deese Looks North to Alaska for Better Baseball Opportunity - "Behind him, Deese leaves a group of frosh stars at Chapman--Manny Estrada, CIF Player of the Year as a junior at Bishop Amat; Bob Blackledge of Foothill High, and Tom Lederer, 10-0 for Lakewood's CIF championship team."

Joining the talented LBCC baseball program a semester behind everyone else, Tom never received much of an opportunity his freshman year on a team that featured Dave Frost, who went on to win 16 games for the 1979 American League Western Division champion California Angels. Tom played for LBCC his sophomore year, then transferred to Long Beach State with the intention of playing for coach John Gonsalves in 1973 but opted out before workouts began the prior fall.

Retired from baseball at the age of 21, Tom earned his degree in Business Administration from Long Beach State and now manages sports and aquatics programs for the City of Lakewood, California, selected the number one Sportstown in California by Sports Illustrated. He has been married for over 25 years to his wife Jeannie and has two children, Brett, 22, and Kelsey, 20. Tom also has a younger brother who is very proud of his older sibling.