James Kenneth Lefebvre ( ; born January 7, 1942) is a former

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), ...

player, coach, and manager. An

infielder An infielder is a baseball player stationed at one of four defensive "infield" positions on the baseball field. Standard arrangement of positions In a game of baseball, two teams of nine players take turns playing offensive and defensive roles. ...

, he was signed by the

Los Angeles Dodgers The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Established in 1883 in the city of Brooklyn ...

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 ...

in 1962.

Baseball career

Playing career

Lefebvre was the 1965 National League Rookie of the Year; he hit .250 with 12 home runs and 69 RBI and the Dodgers won the

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 ...

. He started at second base in the

All-Star Game An all-star game is an exhibition game that purports to showcase the best players (the "stars") of a sports league. The exhibition is between two teams organized solely for the event, usually representing the league's teams based on region or div ...

1966 Events January * January 1 – In a coup, Colonel Jean-Bédel Bokassa takes over as military ruler of the Central African Republic, ousting President David Dacko. * January 3 – 1966 Upper Voltan coup d'état: President Maurice Yaméogo i ...

. In 1965, he was part of an infield for the Dodgers that consisted of four players who were

switch hitter In baseball, a switch hitter is a player who bats both right-handed and left-handed, usually right-handed against left-handed pitchers and left-handed against right-handed pitchers. Characteristics Right-handed batters generally hit better aga ...

s. The others were

Jim Gilliam James William "Junior" Gilliam (October 17, 1928 – October 8, 1978) was an American second baseman, third baseman, and coach in Negro league and Major League Baseball who spent his entire major league career with the Brooklyn / Los Angeles Dod ...

Wes Parker Maurice Wesley Parker III (born November 13, 1939) is a former first baseman in Major League Baseball who played for the Los Angeles Dodgers from to . He also played one season in Japan for the Nankai Hawks in . As of 2009, Parker has been a me ...

, and

Maury Wills Maurice Morning Wills (October 2, 1932 – September 19, 2022) was an American professional baseball player and manager. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) primarily for the Los Angeles Dodgers from 1959 through 1966 and the latter part of ...

. Lefebvre also played four seasons in Japan, from 1973 until 1976, 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. History The Marines franchise began in 1950 as the Mainichi Orions, an inaugural ...

. Lefebvre became only the second player, after Johnny Logan, to have won a World Series (1965 Dodgers) and a

Japan Series The Japan Series ( , officially the Japan Championship Series, ), also the Nippon Series, :File:2014_JS_logo.png is the annual championship series in Nippon Professional Baseball, the top baseball league in Japan. It is a best-of-seven series ...

with the 1974 Lotte Orions. He was a big-league manager from 1989–1993, and briefly again in 1999, and was formerly the hitting coach with the

Cincinnati Reds The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division and were a charter member of ...

Managerial and coaching career

Lefebvre was first hired as a major league manager by the Seattle Mariners in November 1988, with a two-year contract at $150,000 annually, with incentives and a team option for a third year. In his second season in

1990 File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of Humankind, humanity on Earth, Astroph ...

, Seattle won 77 games and drew over 1.5 million in home attendance at the

Kingdome The Kingdome (officially the King County Stadium) was a multi-purpose stadium located in the Industrial District, Seattle, Industrial District (later SoDo, Seattle, SoDo) neighborhood of Seattle, Washington (state), Washington, United States. O ...

. In

1991 File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, elected as Russia's first president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated by Soviet hardliners; Mount Pinatubo erupts in the Phil ...

, the Mariners posted their first-ever winning record at and drew over 2.1 million, but Lefebvre's contract was not extended; he was succeeded by assistant coach

Bill Plummer William Francis Plummer (born March 21, 1947) is an American former professional baseball player and manager, and current hitting coach for the Redding Colt 45s. He played in Major League Baseball as a catcher in 1968 and then from 1970 to 1978, ...

. Lefebvre finished with a record of 233 wins and 253 losses. Lefebvre was soon hired by the

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as part of the National League (NL) Central division. The club plays its home games at Wrigley Field, which is located ...

in November, and led them during the

1992 File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: 1992 Los Angeles riots, Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the Police brutality, police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment buildi ...

and

1993 File:1993 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Oslo I Accord is signed in an attempt to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict; The Russian White House is shelled during the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis; Czechoslovakia is peace ...

seasons; he was released again after a posting a winning record, Chicago was in the 1993 season. With the

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

, he was the interim manager for the final seven weeks of the In addition to managing, Lefebvre has spent time coaching in the Dodgers,

San Francisco Giants The San Francisco Giants are an American professional baseball team based in San Francisco, California. The Giants compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1883 as the New Yor ...

Oakland Athletics The Oakland Athletics (often referred to as the A's) are an American professional baseball team based in Oakland, California. The Athletics compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. The te ...

, 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 (NL) West division. Founded in 1969, the club has won two NL penna ...

organizations. He coached the China National Baseball Team (

Olympics The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a var ...

) in 2005, the

2006 World Baseball Classic The 2006 World Baseball Classic (WBC) was the inaugural tournament between national baseball teams that included players from Major League Baseball. It was held from March 3 to 20 in stadiums that are in and around Tokyo, Japan; San Juan, Puerto ...

, and 2008 Olympics.

Managerial record

Outside of baseball

Lefebvre had roles on several television shows including ''

Gilligan's Island ''Gilligan's Island'' is an American sitcom created and produced by Sherwood Schwartz. The show's ensemble cast features Bob Denver, Alan Hale Jr., Jim Backus, Natalie Schafer, Tina Louise, Russell Johnson and Dawn Wells. It aired for thr ...

'' and ''

Batman Batman is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, and debuted in Detective Comics 27, the 27th issue of the comic book ''Detective Comics'' on ...

''. His role in ''Batman'' was of a henchman for the

Riddler The Riddler (Edward Nigma, later Edward Nygma or Edward Nashton) is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by Bill Finger and Dick Sprang, and debuted in ''Detective Comics'' #140 in Oc ...

. He is also a spokesman for

Vemma Vemma () Nutrition Company was a privately held multi-level marketing company that sold dietary supplements. The company was shut down in 2015 by the Federal Trade Commission, FTC for engaging in deceptive practices and pyramid scheme, pyramid sc ...

vitamin supplements.

Personal life

Jimmy first married Jean Bakke from Waterford, WI and they had their son, Ryan, before they divorced and Jimmy was playing baseball in Japan after he was with the Dodgers, where he was rookie of the year in 1965. Lefebvre has a daughter, Brittany Lefebvre, who is currently working in Christian motion pictures. His son,

Ryan Ryan may refer to: People and fictional characters *Ryan (given name), a given name (including a list of people with the name) *Ryan (surname), a surname (including a list of people with the name) Places Australia * Division of Ryan, an elector ...

, is the lead play-by-play announcer for the Royals on

Bally Sports Kansas City Bally Sports Kansas City (BSKC) is an American regional sports network owned by Diamond Sports Group, and operates as an affiliate of Bally Sports. The channel broadcasts coverage of professional, collegiate, and high school sports events both wi ...

References

External links

Jim Lefebvre
at Baseball Almanac
ArmchairGM
* : {{DEFAULTSORT:Lefebvre, Jim 1942 births Living people American expatriate baseball players in Japan Arizona Instructional League Dodgers players Cincinnati Reds coaches Los Angeles Dodgers coaches Los Angeles Dodgers players Chicago Cubs managers Lotte Orions players Major League Baseball first base coaches Major League Baseball hitting coaches Baseball players from Inglewood, California Major League Baseball Rookie of the Year Award winners Major League Baseball second basemen Major League Baseball third basemen Milwaukee Brewers coaches Milwaukee Brewers managers Minor league baseball managers National League All-Stars Oakland Athletics coaches Sportspeople from Los Angeles County, California Seattle Mariners managers San Francisco Giants coaches San Francisco Giants executives Reno Silver Sox players Salem Dodgers players Spokane Indians players Morningside High School alumni