• Card series: Beginnings: 1880's
• City: Omaha
• Team: Omahogs
• League: Western Association

John Atkinson Leighton (1861-1956) enjoyed a lengthy baseball career from 1887 through 1901, but his only major league stint was for the Syracuse Stars of the American Association in 1890. He played in seven games and batted .296 while playing the outfield. A long-lived Massachusetts native, Leighton was considered the oldest living player until his death, whereupon he was succeeded in that status by Dummy Hoy. Leighton was part of the Stars’ only ML season. He was a teammate of their top hitter, Cupid Childs and their ace Dan Casey on the mound.

• Leighton appeared in the Old Judge series as a CF for the Omaha Omahogs, but there is no reference to him on the team’s roster
• Leighton did play for Syracuse and Providence in the International League and Lewiston in the New England League