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Leron Lee (born March 4, 1948) is an American 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 ...
. He played eight seasons 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 (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Centra ...
,
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,
Cleveland Indians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. Since , the team ...
and
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 (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Division. ...
of
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). He then played eleven seasons in Japan's
Nippon Professional Baseball is a professional baseball league and the highest level of baseball in Japan. Locally, it is often called , meaning simply ''Professional Baseball''; outside of Japan, NPB is often referred to as "Japanese baseball". The roots of the league ...
for the
Lotte Orions The are a professional baseball team in Japan's Pacific League based in Chiba City, Chiba Prefecture, in the Kantō region, and owned by Lotte Holdings Co., Ltd. The Marines were a founding member of the Pacific League in as the Mainichi Ori ...
, where he was a four-time
All-Star An all-star team is a group of people all having a high level of performance in their field. Originating in sports, it has since drifted into vernacular and has been borrowed heavily by the entertainment industry. Sports "All-star" as a sport ...
and a four-time Best Nine Award-winner. His nephew Derrek Lee also played in the
MLB 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 ...
.


Early life and United States baseball career

Lee, the oldest of six children, graduated from Grant High School in
Sacramento Sacramento ( or ; ; ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of California and the seat of Sacramento County. Located at the confluence of the Sacramento and American Rivers in Northern California's Sacramento Valley, Sacramento's 2020 p ...
with 36 football scholarship offers from major four-year universities. Instead, he began his professional career at 18 as the number one draft pick of the St. Louis Cardinals in September 1969 after an excellent season at Tulsa where he batted .303. His first major league hit was off Jerry Robertson of the
Montreal Expos The Montreal Expos () were a Canadian professional baseball team based in Montreal. The Expos were the first Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise located outside the United States. They played in the National League (baseball), National League ...
. In 1970 he had ten multi-hit games, including two games with three hits, a tie breaking home run against the Dodgers and his first major league home run off future Hall of Famer
Ferguson Jenkins Ferguson Arthur "Fergie" Jenkins Order of Canada, CM (born December 13, 1942) is a Canadian former professional baseball pitcher and Coach (baseball), coach. He played Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1965 to 1983 for the Philadelphia Phillies, C ...
. On June 11, 1971, after three seasons with the Cardinals, Leron was traded to the San Diego Padres where he had nineteen multi-hit games, including one memorable game against Cincinnati where he had three hits, including two doubles. On July 25, 1971, a home run off Bob Johnson led to a 2-1 win against Pittsburgh in the first game of a double-header. For the season, Leron batted .273. The following year, 1972, Leron batted .300 with an amazing thirty four multi- hit games, including six three-hit games. On July 4, 1972, Lee broke up a no-hit bid by
Tom Seaver George Thomas Seaver (November 17, 1944 – August 31, 2020), nicknamed "Tom Terrific" and "the Franchise", was an American professional baseball pitcher who played 20 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB). He played for the New York Mets, Cin ...
of the
New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National ...
. Lee singled with one out in the ninth inning.July 4, 1972 San Diego Padres at New York Mets Play by Play and Box Score – Baseball-Reference
/ref> Once again, after three seasons with the Padres, Leron was purchased by the Cleveland Indians where he had thirteen multi-hit games. In a game against the Royals he hit a home run then a grand slam to drive in all five runs for a 5-2 victory. After signing with the Dodgers as a free agent, he remained for two seasons before ending his major league career to pursue a baseball career in Japan.


Japanese baseball career

Following his major league career, he played for the
Lotte Orions The are a professional baseball team in Japan's Pacific League based in Chiba City, Chiba Prefecture, in the Kantō region, and owned by Lotte Holdings Co., Ltd. The Marines were a founding member of the Pacific League in as the Mainichi Ori ...
in Japan from 1977 to 1987. From his retirement to early 2018, he held the Japanese record for career batting average (players with more than 4,000
at bat In baseball, an at bat (AB) or time at bat is a batter's turn batting against a pitcher. An at bat is different from a plate appearance. A batter is credited with a plate appearance regardless of what happens upon completion of his turn at bat, ...
s). Norichika Aoki overtook him upon returning from MLB. Lee led the league in
home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the Baseball (ball), ball is hit in such a way that the batting (baseball), batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safe (baseball), safely in one play without any error ( ...
s and
runs batted in A run batted in or runs batted in (RBI) 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 th ...
in his first season, and won the batting title in 1980. In 1978, he invited younger brother Leon Lee (the father of former Major League Baseball player Derrek Lee) to play in Japan, and the brothers formed a feared cleanup for the Orions. Whiting, Robert. ''You Gotta Have Wa'' (Vintage Departures, 1989), pp. 264–271. Before the arrival of Lee, foreign players mostly played in Japan when their careers were winding down. Lee revolutionized the Japanese view of foreign players by playing in Japan during his prime, raising the standard for all foreign players thereafter.


Coaching career

After retiring from Japanese baseball, he went on to become the batting coach for the
Oakland Athletics The Oakland Athletics (frequently referred to as the Oakland A's) were an American Major League Baseball (MLB) team based in Oakland, California from 1968 to 2024. The Athletics were a member club of the American League (AL) American League We ...
in 1989 when they won the
World Series The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB). It has been contested since between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winning team, determined through a best- ...
. Currently, he works with the
Cincinnati Reds The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. The Reds compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Divisi ...
as an advising batting coach to scouted players.


References


External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lee, Leron 1948 births Living people Arkansas Travelers players African-American baseball coaches African-American baseball players American expatriate baseball players in Japan American expatriate baseball players in Mexico Baseball coaches from California Baseball players from Bakersfield, California Cleveland Indians players Florida Instructional League Cardinals players Los Angeles Dodgers players Lotte Orions players Major League Baseball left fielders Modesto Reds players Nippon Professional Baseball designated hitters Nippon Professional Baseball first basemen San Diego Padres players St. Louis Cardinals players Sultanes de Monterrey players Tulsa Oilers (baseball) players 21st-century African-American sportsmen 20th-century African-American sportsmen 20th-century American sportsmen