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Jim Leyritz was a star for the New York Yankees during the 1990s.
Former Yankee and World Series hero Jim Leyritz will be sentenced Thursday afternoon for a drunk driving conviction.
A south Florida jury found Leyritz guilty of driving drunk in November but he was acquitted of a more serious charge of manslaughter.
The ex-baseball player could still face a maximum of six months in prison, but that's far short of the 15 years he could have faced for hitting and killing 30-year-old Freida Veitch while driving drunk.
Leyritz was emotional when the verdict was read on November 20. After hearing the verdict he walked over and thanked jurors.
According to court documents, the incident began as a 2007 nighttime celebration for Leyritz, who was ringing in his 44th birthday with friends in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, bars.
While driving a friend home shortly after 3 a.m. on December 28, 2007, his red 2006 Ford Expedition hit Veitch's vehicle. She was thrown from her dark green 2000 Mitsubishi Montero.
Blood drawn from Leyritz three hours later showed he had 0.14 percent blood alcohol level, above the 0.08 legal limit in Florida. He also failed field sobriety tests, according to police.
Veitch was also drunk -- with a 0.18 blood alcohol level -- and was not wearing her seat belt, according to court documents.
Leyritz played 11 years in the major leagues, including all or parts of eight seasons with the New York Yankees. His career highlight came in 1996, when he hit a winning home run in Game 4 of the World Series. He also hit pivotal homers during the 1995, 1998 and 1999 postseasons.
He remained in the limelight after his career ended in 2000, appearing on national and New York-based radio programs.