Leon Lee (born December 4, 1952, in

Sacramento, California ) , image_map = Sacramento County California Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Sacramento Highlighted.svg , mapsize = 250x200px , map_caption = Location within Sacramento C ...

) is a former professional baseball player and manager, primarily known for his career in Japan. He played first base, third base, and catcher during his career, batting and throwing right-handed. Lee had a ten-year career in

Nippon Professional Baseball 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 ...

(NPB). At the conclusion of his playing career, he was considered one of the greatest foreign players to have played in the NPB. Later, he became the first

African-American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American ...

manager in Japanese baseball history. He is the father of former MLB player

Derrek Lee Derrek Leon Lee (born September 6, 1975), nicknamed "D-Lee", is an American former professional baseball first baseman. Lee played with the San Diego Padres, Florida Marlins, Chicago Cubs, Atlanta Braves, Baltimore Orioles and Pittsburgh Pirates ...

and the brother of former MLB player

Leron Lee Leron Lee (born March 4, 1948) is an American former professional left fielder. He played eight seasons with the St. Louis Cardinals, Los Angeles Dodgers, Cleveland Indians and San Diego Padres of Major League Baseball (MLB). He then played eleve ...

Career

American baseball career

Leon Lee was selected in the ninth round (198th overall) by 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 hav ...

in the 1971

draft Draft, The Draft, or Draught may refer to: Watercraft dimensions * Draft (hull), the distance from waterline to keel of a vessel * Draft (sail), degree of curvature in a sail * Air draft, distance from waterline to the highest point on a vessel ...

. He spent seven years in the Cardinals'

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 Nor ...

system without playing in a

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) game.

Japanese baseball career

With the support of his older brother, former American Major League player

, who was playing 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 ...

, a

(NPB) team, Leon was able to make the move to Japan.

Whiting, Robert Robert Whiting (born October 24, 1942) is a best-selling author and journalist who has written several books on contemporary Japanese culture - which include topics such as baseball and American gangsters operating in Japan. He was born in New Jer ...

. ''You Gotta Have Wa'' (Vintage Departures, 1989), p. 27. Lee played five seasons alongside his older brother, hitting 41 home runs, 116 RBIs, with a .340 batting average in 1980. His batting average that year was the second-highest in the

Pacific League The or is one of the two professional baseball leagues constituting Nippon Professional Baseball in Japan. The winner of the league championship competes against the winner in the Central League for the annual Japan Series. It currently consis ...

, behind his brother's average. Lee was traded to the

Yokohama Taiyo Whales The are a professional baseball team in the Japanese Central League. Their home field is Yokohama Stadium, located in central Yokohama. The team has been known by several names since becoming a professional team in 1950. It adopted its curren ...

where he played from 1983 to 1985. He finished his career in Japan with the

Yakult Swallows The Tokyo Yakult Swallows () are a Japanese professional baseball team competing in Nippon Professional Baseball's Central League. Based in Shinjuku, Tokyo, they are one of two professional baseball teams based in Tokyo, the other being the Yom ...

from 1986 to 1987 before returning to the United States.

Scouting and managing

His past experience in Japan helped him become the

Pacific Rim The Pacific Rim comprises the lands around the rim of the Pacific Ocean. The ''Pacific Basin'' includes the Pacific Rim and the islands in the Pacific Ocean. The Pacific Rim roughly overlaps with the geologic Pacific Ring of Fire. List of co ...

scout Scout may refer to: Youth movement *Scout (Scouting), a child, usually 10–18 years of age, participating in the worldwide Scouting movement **Scouts (The Scout Association), section for 10-14 year olds in the United Kingdom **Scouts BSA, sectio ...

for 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 1998. After the

2002 MLB season The 2002 Major League Baseball season finished with two wild-card teams contesting the World Series; the Anaheim Angels defeated the San Francisco Giants in seven games for the World Series championship. It was the first title in Angels team hist ...

, Lee left the Cubs and returned to Japan to serve as the

Orix BlueWave , styled as ORIX, is a Japanese diversified financial services group headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, and Osaka, Japan. ORIX offers leasing, lending, rentals, life insurance, real estate financing and development, venture capital, investment an ...

's hitting coach for the 2003 NPB season. The manager,

Hiromichi Ishige Hiromichi Ishige (石毛宏典, born September 22, 1956) is a retired Japanese professional baseball player and manager in Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball. He played most of his career for the Seibu Lions. The 1986 Pacific League Most Va ...

, was fired in April, and Lee was promoted to manager, becoming the first

manager in Japanese baseball history. On May 17, 2003, the BlueWave faced the

Nippon Ham Fighters The are a Japanese professional baseball team based in Kitahiroshima, Hokkaidō. They compete in the Pacific League of Nippon Professional Baseball, playing the majority of their home games at ES CON Field Hokkaido. The Fighters also host a s ...

, managed by

Trey Hillman Thomas Brad "Trey" Hillman (born January 4, 1963) is an American professional baseball coach. He has also served as the manager of the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters in Japan's Pacific League, the Kansas City Royals in the American League and the SK ...

, for a battle between two American managers in Japan for the first time in 28 years. The Blue Waves were a good offensive team, but the pitching staff posted a 5.95 team ERA, and the team finished in last place with a 48-88-4 record. The club hired a Japanese manager for the next season and Lee was offered, but declined, the hitting coach position.

Brooklyn Cyclones

In February 2004, Lee was hired to manage the

Brooklyn Cyclones The Brooklyn Cyclones are a Minor League Baseball team of the South Atlantic League and the High-A affiliate of the New York Mets. They are based in the New York City borough of Brooklyn, and play at Maimonides Park, just off the Coney Island Boar ...

, a Class-A

New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. They are one of two major league ...

minor-league affiliate. On April 8, he was arrested for

indecent exposure Indecent exposure is the deliberate public exposure by a person of a portion of their body in a manner contrary to local standards of appropriate behavior. Laws and social attitudes regarding indecent exposure vary significantly in different ...

in a hotel after seeking to quiet a noisy late-night crowd that was disturbing his team. While the charges were still pending, he was forced to resign before managing his first game. Although Lee pressed for a court date to clear his name, the charges were dropped in 2005.

Sacramento Stealth

In 2016, he became owner of the

Sacramento Stealth The Sacramento Stealth were a collegiate woodbat baseball team based in Sacramento, California. They are charter members of the Great West League. They were owned by former Minor League Baseball and Japanese Baseball standout Leon Lee and were ...

of the new collegiate wood bat

Great West League The Great West League (GWL) was a collegiate summer baseball league founded in 2014, comprising teams from California and Oregon. The league was designed to develop college talent, and only current college eligible players are allowed to parti ...

References

External links

English article on Leon Lee
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lee, Leon 1952 births Living people Baseball players from Bakersfield, California African-American baseball players African-American baseball managers African-American baseball coaches American expatriate baseball players in Japan Chicago Cubs scouts Lotte Orions players Yokohama Taiyō Whales players Yakult Swallows players Expatriate baseball managers in Japan Managers of baseball teams in Japan Orix BlueWave managers 21st-century African-American people 20th-century African-American sportspeople