Carlos Noriel Lee (born June 20, 1976), nicknamed "El Caballo", is a Panamanian former professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

left fielder In baseball, a left fielder, abbreviated LF, is an outfielder who plays defense in left field. Left field is the area of the outfield to the left of a person standing at home plate and facing towards the pitcher's mound. In the numbering system ...

and

first baseman A first baseman, abbreviated 1B, is the player on a baseball or softball team who fields the area nearest first base, the first of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. The first baseman is responsible for the majori ...

. He played in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

(MLB) from 1999 to 2012 with the

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. The club plays its ...

Milwaukee Brewers The Milwaukee Brewers are an American professional baseball team based in Milwaukee. The Brewers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Di ...

, Texas Rangers,

Houston Astros The Houston Astros are an American professional baseball team based in Houston. The Astros compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League West, West Division. They are one of two major leag ...

, and

Miami Marlins The Miami Marlins are an American professional baseball team based in Miami. The Marlins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League East, East Division. The ...

. He had 17 career grand slams, ranking him seventh in MLB history (tied with

Jimmie Foxx James Emory Foxx (October 22, 1907 – July 21, 1967), nicknamed "Double X" and "the Beast", was an American professional baseball first baseman who played 20 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Philadelphia Athletics, Boston Red ...

and

Ted Williams Theodore Samuel Williams (August 30, 1918 – July 5, 2002) was an American professional baseball player and manager. He played his entire 19-year Major League Baseball (MLB) career, primarily as a left fielder, for the Boston Red Sox from 193 ...

); his seven grand slams hit with the Astros is a club record he shares with Jose Altuve and

Alex Bregman Alexander David Bregman (born March 30, 1994) is an American professional baseball third baseman for the Boston Red Sox of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the Houston Astros. As a high school sophomore at Albu ...

Professional career

Chicago White Sox

Lee made his major league debut with the

on May 7, 1999, hitting a home run in his first Major League at-bat. In his rookie year, Lee hit .293 while driving in 84 runs in 127 games. He finished 7th in the AL Rookie of the Year voting. In 2000, Lee drove in 92 RBI while hitting 24 home runs. In 2001, Lee once again hit for power, hitting 24 home runs and driving in 84 runs but his average dipped from .301 the previous year to .269 in 150 games. In 2002, Lee played in just 140 games but was consistent once again, driving in 80 runs while hitting 26 home runs. In 2003, Lee had his breakout season for the White Sox, playing in 158 games, Lee drove in 113 RBI while homering 31 times and scoring 100 runs. The following year, Lee continued his success, hitting 31 home runs and scoring 103 runs. He also drove in 99 RBI while hitting .305 for the White Sox. After the season, Lee was traded to the

in exchange for

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 catch ...

Scott Podsednik and

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("Pitch (baseball), pitches") the Baseball (ball), baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of out (baseball), retiring a batter (baseball), batter, ...

Luis Vizcaíno.

Milwaukee Brewers

In 2005, Lee hit 32 home runs with 114 RBIs and an NL-leading 11 sacrifice flies. He was selected for the National League All-Star team in his first two seasons as a Brewer, and participated in the

Home Run Derby The Home Run Derby is an annual home run hitting competition in Major League Baseball (MLB) customarily held the day before the Major League Baseball All-Star Game, MLB All-Star Game, which places the contest on a Monday in July. In the context ...

in 2005. In 2005, he also won his first career

Silver Slugger Award The Silver Slugger Award has been awarded annually since 1980 to the best Batting (baseball), offensive player at each Baseball positions, position in both the American League (AL) and the National League (baseball), National League (NL), as determ ...

. On July 28, 2006, he was traded to the Texas Rangers with

minor league Minor leagues are professional sports leagues which are not regarded as the premier leagues in those sports. Minor league teams tend to play in smaller, less elaborate venues, often competing in smaller cities/markets. This term is used in Nort ...

outfielder Nelson Cruz for outfielders Kevin Mench and Laynce Nix, relief pitcher Francisco Cordero, and minor league pitcher Julian Cordero. According to Brewers General Manager Doug Melvin, the Brewers attempted to re-sign Lee, but by July 27, it became apparent he would not sign a contract extension. The Brewers reportedly offered a four-year, $48 million contract extension, close to the four-year, $50 million extension David Ortiz signed earlier in 2006. Lee's agent Adam Katz said the two parties were too far away in negotiations.

Texas Rangers

In 59 games for the Rangers, Lee hit 9 home runs while hitting .322 while serving as their DH and left fielder. Between both the Brewers and the Rangers, Lee hit a career high 37 home runs while compiling 116 RBI in 161 games.

Houston Astros

On November 24, 2006, Lee agreed to a six-year, $100 million contract with the

. Lee had a productive first year in Houston, hitting .303 with 32 home runs and driving in 119 runs, which was good for a three-way tie in the National League with Miguel Cabrera and Prince Fielder. In his second year,

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

, despite playing in just 115 games due to injury, Lee drove in 100 runs and homered 28 times for the Astros. In

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

, he had the lowest range factor of all starting major league left fielders (1.56). Despite his limited range, Lee was a force once again at the plate, driving in 102 RBIs while hitting exactly .300 in 160 games. In

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

, after Lance Berkman was dealt to the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Am ...

, Lee filled in for a handful of games at first base. While this was not the first time in his career he had played first, it was the first time he did so on a regular basis. Lee hit a career low .246 despite driving in 89 runs and homering 24 times for the Astros. In

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

, he was an above-average defender according to UZR and other statistical measurements. Through 66 games in

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

for Houston, Lee struck out just 17 times in 258 at bats. During his 6-year tenure with the Astros, Lee never struck out over 65 times in a season. He set the club record with seven grand slams.

Miami Marlins

On July 4, 2012, Lee was traded to the

for minor leaguers Matt Dominguez and Rob Rasmussen. He played his first game as a Marlin the next day against the

, and went 2-for-4 with a run in a win. He hit his first home run as a Marlin, a grand slam, on July 17 against the

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Division. Th ...

. In 81 games for the Marlins, Lee hit .243 while homering 4 times in 338 plate appearances.

International career

Lee represented the Panama national baseball team in international competition. At the 2006 World Baseball Classic, he slashed .182/.250/.182 over 12 plate appearances, with two hits and three strikeouts. At the

2009 World Baseball Classic The 2009 World Baseball Classic (WBC) was an International Baseball Federation, international baseball competition. It began on March 5 and finished March 23. Unlike in 2006 World Baseball Classic, 2006, when the Round-robin tournament, round- ...

, he slashed .143/.250/.143 over 8 plate appearances.

Career statistics

In 2,099 games over 14 seasons, Lee compiled a .285

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 ...

(2,273-for-7,983) with 1,125 runs, 469 doubles, 19 triples, 358

home runs In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run ...

, 1,363 RBI, 125 stolen bases, 655

base on balls A base on balls (BB), better known as a walk, occurs in baseball when a batter receives four pitches during a plate appearance that the umpire calls '' balls'', and is in turn awarded first base without the possibility of being called out. The bas ...

, 984 strikeouts, .339

on-base percentage In baseball statistics, on-base percentage (OBP) measures how frequently a batting (baseball), batter reaches base (baseball), base. An official Major League Baseball (MLB) statistic since 1984, it is sometimes referred to as on-base average (OBA ...

and .483

slugging percentage In baseball statistics, slugging percentage (SLG) is a measure of the batting productivity of a hitter. It is calculated as total bases divided by at-bats, through the following formula, where ''AB'' is the number of at-bats for a given player, an ...

. Defensively, he recorded a .988

fielding percentage In baseball statistics, fielding percentage, also known as fielding average, is a measure that reflects the percentage of times a baseball positions, defensive player properly handles a batted or thrown ball. It is calculated by the sum of putout ...

playing left field and first base.

Personal life

In reference to his nickname, Carlos has a fan club called ''Los Caballitos'', which means "Little Horses". He is married and has two daughters, Cassandra and Karla and two sons, named Karlos and Carlos. Lee owns and operates cattle ranches in Aguadulce and

Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

. His younger brother, also named Carlos, Carlos Humberto Lee, played professional baseball in the

and

systems from 2001–2007.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lee, Carlos 1976 births Living people Birmingham Barons players Bristol White Sox players Charlotte Knights players Chicago White Sox players Corpus Christi Hooks players Gulf Coast White Sox players Hickory Crawdads players Houston Astros players Major League Baseball first basemen Major League Baseball left fielders Major League Baseball players from Panama Miami Marlins players Milwaukee Brewers players National League All-Stars Panamanian expatriate baseball players in the United States Panamanian people of Chinese descent People from Aguadulce District Silver Slugger Award winners Texas Rangers players Winston-Salem Warthogs players 2006 World Baseball Classic players 2009 World Baseball Classic players Caribes de Oriente players Panamanian expatriate baseball players in Venezuela