Sixto Joaquin Lezcano Curras (born November 28, 1953) is a Puerto Rican former

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Modern professional ...

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to c ...

, who played in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

(MLB) for 12 seasons (1974–1985). He played for five MLB teams and won a Gold Glove during his career. Born in Arecibo, Puerto Rico, Lezcano attended Fernando Collegio San Jose High School in San Jose, Puerto Rico.

Playing career

In 1970, at age 16, Lezcano was signed as an amateur

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

by the Milwaukee Brewers. After spending four seasons in their minor league system, he reached the big leagues for the first time in 1974; Lezcano made his big league debut on September 10, 1974. Lezcano became the Brewers' starting

right fielder A right fielder, abbreviated RF, is the outfielder in baseball or softball who plays defense in right field. Right field is the area of the outfield to the right of a person standing at home plate and facing towards the pitcher's mound. In the ...

in 1975, a job he held for the next six seasons. Lezcano showed a particularly strong throwing arm in right field, and led

American League The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western League, a minor league ...

(AL) outfielders in assists, in 1978. The article erroneously states he also led National League outfielders in assists in 1983; he actually did so in 1982. Lezcano’s best offensive numbers came in 1979, when he finished among the top 10 in the AL in

batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average is ...

and home runs, and finished with the third-highest slugging percentage in the American League. That season, Lezcano was honored for his defensive skills with the only Gold Glove of his major league career. Sixto Lezcano - Milwaukee Brewers

While with the Brewers, Lezcano became the only player in Major League Baseball history to hit a

grand slam Grand Slam most often refers to: * Grand Slam (tennis), one player or pair winning all four major annual tournaments, or the tournaments themselves Grand Slam or Grand slam may also refer to: Games and sports * Grand slam, winning category te ...

on Opening Day twice, doing so in 1978 and 1980. After the 1980 season, Lezcano was part of a blockbuster 7-player trade with the

St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Since the 2006 season, the Cardinals ha ...

, being one of four players traded in exchange for Rollie Fingers, Pete Vuckovich, and Ted Simmons. Lezcano wasn't able to consistently crack the starting lineup in St. Louis, and batted .266 with the Cardinals in 1981. Lezcano was involved in another major trade after the 1981 season, being traded to the

San Diego Padres The San Diego Padres are an American professional baseball team based in San Diego. The Padres compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1969, the club has won two NL penn ...

with

Garry Templeton Garry Lewis Templeton (born March 24, 1956) is an American former professional baseball player and minor league manager. He played as a shortstop in Major League Baseball for the St. Louis Cardinals, San Diego Padres, and New York Mets from 1976 t ...

for

Ozzie Smith Osborne Earl Smith (born December 26, 1954) is an American former professional baseball player. Nicknamed "the Wizard of Oz", Smith played shortstop for the San Diego Padres and St. Louis Cardinals in Major League Baseball, winning the National ...

. Lezcano hit well in his first year with the Padres, and was among the top 10 in the

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team ...

(NL) in on-base percentage. However, Lezcano’s numbers fell off with the Padres in the 1983 season, and he was traded to the Philadelphia Phillies late in the year in exchange for four players to be named later. Lezcano joined a Phillies team which won the NL pennant in 1983. He platooned with

Joe Lefebvre Joseph Henry Lefebvre ( ; born February 22, 1956) is an American former professional baseball player and coach. He played all or parts of six seasons in Major League Baseball with the New York Yankees (1980), San Diego Padres (1981–83) and Phila ...

during the postseason, and homered off

Rick Honeycutt Frederick Wayne Honeycutt (born June 29, 1954) is an American former professional baseball coach and pitcher. Honeycutt pitched in Major League Baseball (MLB) for six different teams over 21 years, from 1977 to 1997. He pitched in 30 post-season ...

during the 1983 National League Championship Series (NLCS). Lezcano had one base hit in eight at-bats in the Phillies' 5-game

World Series The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, contested since 1903 between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winner of the World ...

loss to the

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. As one of the American League's eight charter ...

. Lezcano continued to platoon with Philadelphia in 1984 before leaving the team as a free agent, following the season. He signed with the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1985 and served as one of the team's primary pinch hitters. During spring training 1886, Pittsburgh released Lezcano, ending his Major League career. In 1,291 games over 12 seasons, Lezcano posted a .271 batting average (1,122-for-4,134) with 560 runs, 184 doubles, 34 triples, 148 home runs, 591

runs batted in A run batted in (RBI; plural RBIs ) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if the ba ...

(RBI), 37 stolen bases, 576 bases on balls, .360 on-base percentage, and .440 slugging percentage. Defensively, he recorded a .980 fielding percentage playing at all three outfield positions. In the

1983 The year 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to TCP/IP is officially completed (this is considered to be the beginning ...

postseason, Lezcano hit .238 (5-for-21) in eight games with two runs, one home run, two RBI, and one

walk Walking (also known as ambulation) is one of the main gaits of terrestrial locomotion among legged animals. Walking is typically slower than running and other gaits. Walking is defined by an ' inverted pendulum' gait in which the body vaults ...

. In , Lezcano joined the Yokohama Taiyō Whales of the

Nippon Professional Baseball League or NPB is the highest level of baseball in Japan. Locally, it is often called , meaning ''Professional Baseball''. Outside Japan, it is often just referred to as "Japanese baseball". The roots of the league can be traced back to the formation ...

(NPBL); however, he achieved only limited success while playing in Japan.

Coaching career

Lezcano is the batting coach for the

Danville Braves The Danville Braves were a Minor League Baseball team in Danville, Virginia. They were an Advanced Rookie-level team in the Appalachian League and were a farm team of the Atlanta Braves. The Braves have played home games at American Legion Post 3 ...

(the Rookie league affiliate of the

Atlanta Braves The Atlanta Braves are an American professional baseball team based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Braves compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East division. The Braves were founded in Bos ...

Personal life

Lezcano’s cousin,

Carlos Lezcano Carlos Manuel Lezcano (born September 30, 1955), is a former professional baseball player who played outfielder in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1980 to 1981 for the Chicago Cubs. His cousin, Sixto Lezcano, was also a Major League outfielder a ...

, played two seasons in MLB for the Chicago Cubs.

References

External links

Sixto Lezcano
at SABR (Baseball BioProject) {{DEFAULTSORT:Lezcano, Sixto 1953 births Living people Danville Warriors players Gold Glove Award winners Milwaukee Brewers players Major League Baseball outfielders Major League Baseball players from Puerto Rico Newark Co-Pilots players Nippon Professional Baseball outfielders Orlando Juice players People from Arecibo, Puerto Rico Philadelphia Phillies players Pittsburgh Pirates players Puerto Rican expatriate baseball players in Japan Sacramento Solons players San Diego Padres players Shreveport Captains players St. Louis Cardinals players Yokohama Taiyō Whales players