Sixto Joaquin Lezcano Curras (born November 28, 1953) is a Puerto Rican 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 ...

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 ...

, who 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) for 12 seasons (1974–1985). He played for five MLB teams and won a

Gold Glove The Rawlings Gold Glove Award, usually referred to as simply the Gold Glove, is the award given annually to the Major League Baseball (MLB) players judged to have exhibited superior individual fielding performances. It is awarded at each fieldin ...

during his career. Born in

Arecibo, Puerto Rico Arecibo (; ) is a Arecibo barrio-pueblo, city and Municipalities of Puerto Rico, municipality on the northern coast of Puerto Rico, on the shores of the Atlantic Ocean, located north of Utuado, Puerto Rico, Utuado and Ciales, Puerto Rico, Ciale ...

, Lezcano attended Colegio San Jose High School in

Río Piedras, Puerto Rico Río Piedras () (Spanish language, Spanish for ''stones river'') is a highly urbanized commercial and residential district in San Juan, Puerto Rico, San Juan, the capital Municipalities of Puerto Rico, municipality of Puerto Rico. Adjacent to th ...

Playing career

In 1970, at age 16, Lezcano was signed as an amateur

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager 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 a contract at present ...

by the

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 ...

. After spending four seasons in their minor league system, he reached the big leagues for the first time in 1974; Lezcano made his big league debut on September 10, 1974. Lezcano became the Brewers' starting

right fielder A right fielder, abbreviated RF, is the outfielder in baseball or softball who plays defense in right field. Right field is the area of the outfield to the right of a person standing at home plate and facing towards the pitcher's mound. In the ...

in 1975, a job he held for the next six seasons. Lezcano showed a particularly strong throwing arm in right field, and led

American League The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is the younger of two sports leagues, leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western L ...

(AL) outfielders in assists, in 1978. Lezcano’s best offensive numbers came in 1979, when he finished among the top 10 in the AL in

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 ...

and

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 ...

, and finished with the third-highest

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 ...

in the American League. That season, Lezcano was honored for his defensive skills with the only Gold Glove of his major league career. Sixto Lezcano - Milwaukee Brewers

While with the Brewers, Lezcano became the only player in Major League Baseball history to hit a grand slam on

Opening Day Opening Day is the day on which professional baseball leagues begin their regular season. For Major League Baseball (MLB) and most of the American minor leagues, this day typically falls during the first week of April, although in recent year ...

twice, doing so in 1978 and 1980. After the 1980 season, Lezcano was part of a blockbuster 7-player trade 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 ...

, being one of four players traded in exchange for Rollie Fingers, Pete Vuckovich, and Ted Simmons. Lezcano wasn't able to consistently crack the starting lineup in St. Louis, and batted .266 with the Cardinals in 1981. Lezcano was involved in another major trade after the 1981 season, being traded to the

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. ...

with Garry Templeton for

Ozzie Smith Osborne Earl Smith (born December 26, 1954) is an American former professional baseball player. Nicknamed "The Wizard of Oz", Smith played shortstop for the San Diego Padres and St. Louis Cardinals in Major League Baseball, winning the National ...

. Lezcano hit well in his first year with the Padres, and was among the top 10 in the

National League National League often refers to: *National League (baseball), one of the two baseball leagues constituting Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada *National League (division), the fifth division of the English football (soccer) system ...

(NL) in

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 ...

. However, Lezcano’s numbers fell off with the Padres in the 1983 season, and he was traded to the

Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. The Phillies compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East Division. Since 2004, the team's home stadium has ...

late in the year in exchange for four players to be named later. Lezcano joined a Phillies team which won the NL pennant in 1983. He platooned with

Joe Lefebvre Joseph Henry Lefebvre ( ; born February 22, 1956) is an American former professional baseball player and coach. He played all or parts of six seasons in Major League Baseball with the New York Yankees (1980), San Diego Padres (1981–83) and Phil ...

during the postseason, and homered off

Rick Honeycutt Frederick Wayne Honeycutt (born June 29, 1954), nicknamed "Honey", is an American former professional baseball coach and pitcher. Honeycutt pitched in Major League Baseball (MLB) for six different teams over 21 years, from 1977 to 1997. He pitc ...

during the 1983 National League Championship Series (NLCS). Lezcano had one base hit in eight at-bats in the Phillies' 5-game

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- ...

loss to the

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles (also known as the O's) are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East Division. As one of the America ...

. Lezcano continued to platoon with Philadelphia in 1984 before leaving the team as a free agent, following the season. He signed with the

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

in 1985 and served as one of the team's primary

pinch hitter In baseball, a pinch hitter (PH) is a substitute batter. Batters can be substituted at any time while the ball is dead (not in active play); the manager may use any player who has not yet entered the game as a substitute. Unlike basketball, A ...

s. During

spring training Spring training, also called spring camp, is the preseason of the Summer Professional Baseball Leagues, such as Major League Baseball (MLB), and it is a series of practices and exhibition games preceding the start of the regular season. Spri ...

1986, Pittsburgh released Lezcano, ending his Major League career. In 1,291 games over 12 seasons, Lezcano posted a .271 batting average (1,122-for-4,134) with 560 runs, 184 doubles, 34

triples TripleS (; ; stylized as tripleS) is a South Korean 24-member multinational girl group formed by Modhaus. They aim to be the world's first decentralized idol group, where the members will rotate between the full group, sub-units, and solo activi ...

, 148 home runs, 591

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 ...

(RBI), 37

stolen bases In baseball, a stolen base occurs when a runner advances to a base unaided by other actions and the official scorer rules that the advance should be credited to the action of the runner. The umpires determine whether the runner is safe or out a ...

, 576

bases 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 ...

, .360 on-base percentage, and .440 slugging percentage. Defensively, he recorded a .980 fielding percentage playing at all three outfield positions. In the

1983 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to TCP/IP is officially completed (this is considered to be the beginning of the ...

postseason, Lezcano hit .238 (5-for-21) in eight games with two runs, one home run, two RBI, and one

walk Walking (also known as ambulation) is one of the main gaits of terrestrial locomotion among legged animals. Walking is typically slower than running and other gaits. Walking is defined as an "inverted pendulum" gait in which the body vaults over ...

. In , Lezcano joined the Yokohama Taiyō Whales of the

Nippon Professional Baseball League 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 ...

(NPBL); however, he achieved only limited success while playing in

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

Coaching career

Lezcano was the batting coach for the Danville Braves (the Rookie league affiliate of the

Atlanta Braves The Atlanta Braves are an American professional baseball team based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Braves compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Eas ...

Personal life

Lezcano’s cousin, Carlos Lezcano, played two seasons in MLB 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 a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Division. Th ...

References

External links

Sixto Lezcano
at SABR (Baseball BioProject) {{DEFAULTSORT:Lezcano, Sixto 1953 births Living people Colegio San José alumni Danville Warriors players Gold Glove Award winners Milwaukee Brewers players Major League Baseball outfielders Major League Baseball players from Puerto Rico Newark Co-Pilots players Nippon Professional Baseball outfielders Orlando Juice players Sportspeople from Arecibo, Puerto Rico Philadelphia Phillies players Pittsburgh Pirates players Puerto Rican expatriate baseball players in Japan Sacramento Solons players San Diego Padres players Shreveport Captains players St. Louis Cardinals players Yokohama Taiyō Whales players