TOM RINALDI PRESENTS: WESLEY

To his family, he was simply “Wesley.” But to all in Major-League Baseball, Lyman Wesley Bostock Jr. was a master with a bat. A career .311 hitter, greats of the game like George Brett and Rod Carew believed Bostock had the potential for 3,000 hits, and a possible Hall Of Fame career.

Bostock spent part of his childhood in Gary, Indiana--the murder capital of the United States. The city helped shape Bostock, and with his family ties there, its grip lasted throughout his life…with tragic result. Bostock’s other home was California.

Motivated by what he believes are scouts who misjudge him based on his “trouble” in college, Bostock is motivated more than ever to make it. He makes the decision to enter the MLB draft. Selected 595th overall. He forms a bond with a veteran teammate: Rod Carew.

Bostock breaks out in Minnesota, becoming one of the best hitters in the league. After playing out his contract, he’s recruited by more than half a dozen teams, including the Yankees. Lyman ultimately lands one of the richest contracts in sports when he decides to go home to play for the Angels.

By September 1977, Lyman is in the top 10 in the AL in hitting. With the Angels in playoff contention during a series against the White Sox, he returns to Gary to after a game in Chicago. Visiting Gary was Lyman’s ritual, but this trip would cost him.

Family, friends and all in baseball are in shock over Lyman’s murder. Yet the Angels play their scheduled game the next day. A young reporter named Skip Bayless covers the funeral. Back across the country in Indiana, the case against Lyman’s killer appears to be straightforward.

Leonard Smith, the man who admitted to killing Lyman Bostock in a jealous rage, receives the jury’s verdict. The decision stuns the courtroom, and the country. Years after the verdict, we tried to find Smith, to ask him about his life. He was living back in Gary, 6 blocks from where he killed.

We make the drive with Youvene to Inglewood Park Cemetery, to return to Lyman’s grave. We hear from those Wesley touched, as they consider his life and its legacy. We also return to Gary to see what became of the man who killed Leonard Smith.