Wilfred Henry "Lefty" Lefebvre (November 11, 1915 – January 19, 2007) was an American
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 ...
player
Player may refer to:
Role or adjective
* Player (game), a participant in a game or sport
** Gamer, a player in video and tabletop games
** Athlete, a player in sports
** Player character, a character in a video game or role playing game who ...
and
scout, and
college baseball
College baseball is baseball that is played on the intercollegiate level at institutions of higher education. In comparison to football and basketball, college competition in the United States plays a smaller role in developing professional p ...
head coach
A head coach, senior coach or manager is a professional at training and developing athletes. They typically hold a more public profile and are paid more than other coaches. In some sports, the head coach is instead called the "manager", as in assoc ...
. A
southpaw pitcher
In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...
and native of
West Warwick, Rhode Island
West Warwick is a town in Kent County, Rhode Island, United States. The population was 31,012 at the 2020 census.
West Warwick was incorporated in 1913, making it the youngest town in the state. Prior to 1913, the town, situated on the wester ...
, LeFebvre had a nine-year playing career (1938–1944; 1946–1947). He appeared in 36
games 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), ...
as a member of the
Boston Red Sox
The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eigh ...
(six games in –) and
Washington Senators (30 games during –). LeFebvre entered baseball after graduating from the
College of the Holy Cross. He was listed as tall and .
In 1935, LeFebvre played for
Falmouth in the
Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL) and helped lead the team to the league title.
In MLB, LeFebvre posted a 5–5
record and a 5.03
earned run average
In baseball statistics, earned run average (ERA) is the average of earned runs allowed by a pitcher per nine innings pitched (i.e. the traditional length of a game). It is determined by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the number ...
. In 132
innings pitched, he surrendered 162
hits and 51
bases on balls,
fanning 36. He made ten
starts among his 36 appearances, with three
complete games. He notched three
saves as a
relief pitcher
In baseball and softball, a relief pitcher or reliever is a pitcher who enters the game after the starting pitcher is removed because of fatigue, ineffectiveness, injury, or ejection, or for other strategic reasons, such as inclement weat ...
.
In his major league debut on June 10, 1938, in his very first at-bat, Lefebvre hit his only MLB
home run
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 i ...
over
Fenway
Fenway Park is a baseball stadium located in Boston, Massachusetts, United States, near Kenmore Square. Since 1912, it has been the home of the Boston Red Sox, the city's American League baseball team, and Boston Braves (baseball), since 1953, i ...
's
Green Monster
The Green Monster is a popular nickname for the left field wall at Fenway Park, home to the Boston Red Sox of Major League Baseball. The wall is from home plate and is a popular target for right-handed hitters.
Overview
The wall was part ...
. The opposite-field blow, a solo shot, came off
Monty Stratton of 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) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and ...
in the midst of a
mop-up assignment, as Chicago thrashed the Red Sox, 15–2.
From 1949 to 1963, Lefebvre was the head baseball coach at
Brown University. He also served as a longtime
scout for the Senators and Red Sox. In the early 1960s he also returned to the CCBL to manage the
Dennis Clippers and
Chatham Red Sox.
See also
*
References
External links
*
*Bill LeFebvre biography fro
Society for American Baseball Research (SABR)
1915 births
2007 deaths
Baseball players from Rhode Island
Boston Red Sox players
Boston Red Sox scouts
Brown Bears baseball coaches
Cape Cod Baseball League coaches
Cape Cod Baseball League players (pre-modern era)
College of the Holy Cross alumni
Falmouth Commodores players
Holy Cross Crusaders baseball players
Louisville Colonels (minor league) players
Major League Baseball pitchers
Minneapolis Millers (baseball) players
Minot Mallards players
Pawtucket Slaters players
People from West Warwick, Rhode Island
Providence Chiefs players
San Francisco Seals (baseball) players
Scranton Red Sox players
Washington Senators (1901–1960) players
Washington Senators (1901–60) scouts
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