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Leron Lee (born March 4, 1948 in Bakersfield, California) is a former left fielder in Major League Baseball who played 8 seasons with the St. Louis Cardinals, Los Angeles Dodgers, Cleveland Indians and San Diego Padres. Lee, the oldest of six children, graduated from Grant High School in Sacramento with 36 football scholarship offers from major 4-year universities. Instead, he began his major league career at 18 as the number one draft pick of the St. Louis Cardinals. He then played for the Cardinals for three seasons, the Padres for three seasons, and the Indians and Dodgers for 1.5 seasons.

Japanese baseball career

Following his major league career, he played for the Lotte Orions in Japan from 1977-1987. He currently holds the Japanese record for career batting average (players with more than 4,000 at bats). He led the league in home runs and runs batted in in his first season, and won the batting title in 1980. In 1978, he invited younger brother Leon Lee (the father of Chicago Cubs player Derrek Lee) to play in Japan, and the brothers formed a feared cleanup for the Orions.

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 in 1989 when they won the World Series. Currently, he works with the Cincinnati Reds as an advising batting coach to scouted players.

External links

• Career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube