Derrek Lee
From Sports Library
| Image:Derrek Lee.jpg |
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| Chicago Cubs — No. 25 | |
| First base | |
| Born: September 6 1975 (age 33) | |
| Bats: Right | Throws: Right |
| Major League Baseball debut | |
| April 28, 1997 for the San Diego Padres | |
| Selected MLB statistics (through 2006 season) |
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| Batting average | .276 |
| Home runs | 217 |
| Runs batted in | 656 |
| Former teams | |
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Derrek Leon Lee (born September 6, 1975 in Sacramento, California) is a first baseman in Major League Baseball who plays for the Chicago Cubs since 2004. From 1997 through 2003, Lee played with the San Diego Padres (1997) and Florida Marlins (1998-2003). He bats and throws right-handed.
After he graduated from El Camino (CA) High School in 1993, Lee was drafted in the first round (14th overall) of the 1994 Major League Baseball draft by the San Diego Padres, and made his major league debut on April 28, 1997. Traded to the Florida Marlins a year later, Lee was a member of the 2003 World Series Marlins championship team.
Lee was traded to the Cubs for Hee Seop Choi. He hit .278 with 32 home runs and 98 RBI in his first year with the Cubs. In 2005, Lee had a career first half of the season, with an MLB-leading .376 batting average, 72 RBI, and a tie for the major league lead in home runs, 27.
While always being a very good player, things exploded for Lee in 2005. The Cubs had traded superstar Sammy Sosa, who had previously been one of their best hitters. Lee showed early on that he could more than compensate for the loss, and while Sosa had a disappointing 2005 season with the Baltimore Orioles, Lee had a career year. By midseason, he was among MLB's leaders in each of the triple crown categories: batting average, home runs, and RBI. Late in the season, Lee still managed to produce despite the loss of Cubs slugger Aramis Ramirez. His .335 batting average was the highest by a Cub since Bill Madlock's .339 in 1976 and made him the first Cub to win a batting title since Bill Buckner (1980). His hunt for the Most Valuable Player Award may have been hampered by poor performance by the hitters in front of him for the better part of the season, as his RBI total was less than that of Andruw Jones. The Atlanta Braves outfielder also led the NL in home runs, with 51 to Lee's 46. Lee was named to the U.S. roster for the 2006 World Baseball Classic, where he was the first player to hit a home run for Team USA in the WBC.
On April 10, 2006, Derrek Lee signed a 5-year, $65 million extension with the Chicago Cubs. The deal replaces his contract for the 2006 season and extends him as the Cubs' first baseman through the 2010 season and includes a no-trade clause. Unfortunately, he broke his wrist less than two weeks later, in a collision involving baserunner Rafael Furcal, and he missed 59 games due to the injury. The Cubs posted a 19-40 record during Lee's stint on the disabled list. Later, Lee went back on the DL with a post-traumatic inflammation in the outer bone of the medial side of the wrist.
In September 2006 Derrek Lee's daughter, Jada, 3 was diagnosed with Leber's congenital amaurosis, a rare genetic disease resulting in loss of vision. Lee and Boston Celtics co-owner and CEO Wyc Grousbeck began Project 3000 in an effort to eradicate the disease effecting both their families.
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Awards
- Gold Glove winner - 2003, 2005.
- National League All-Star starting first baseman and leading NL vote getter - 2005.
- National League Batting Champion - 2005.
- Silver Slugger winner - 2005
- National League Player of the Month - April 2005.
Career statistics
Through the 2006 season, Lee has compiled the following career statistics:
| G | AB | AVG | OBP | SLG | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | R | BB | SO | SB | FLD |
| 1235 | 4258 | .276 | .363 | .500 | 260 | 22 | 217 | 656 | 671 | 550 | 1036 | 86 | .994 |
Trivia
- Derrek Lee is the son of Leon Lee. Leon Lee never played in American Major Leagues. Today, he is a scout for Major League Baseball and, coincidentally, he was the scout who "found" Hee-Seop Choi who was later traded for his son.
- Derrek Lee is the nephew of former Major League outfielder Leron Lee, who played 8 seasons with the Cardinals, Dodgers, Indians and Padres respectively and to this day holds Japan's highest batting average for both Japanese and foreign players. His World Series Ring is from the 1989 Oakland A's game, the year of the infamous earthquake. Currently, he works with Cincinnati Reds as an advising batting coach to scouted players.
- Derrek Lee received a full-ride scholarship offer from the University of North Carolina to play basketball.
Deeper Information
This originally appeared in [1] during Lee's best season in 2005.
It's kind of a shame that Andre Dawson won the MVP in 1987.
Those of us who were there know full well that he deserved it. The Cubs WERE a last place team, albeit one with 77 wins in a tough Eastern Division. They actually were in the race until both Sandberg and Dunston went down the same weekend in St. Louis. And compared to the stats of the last several years, 49 homers doesn't SEEM like much.
Please, believe me, Dawson CARRIED that team, he put out a super-human effort day after day after day in that summer of '87, and all for $500k, remember. Today, nearly 20 years later, Dawson's MVP award is regarded as a true miscarriage of justice by all the baseball outsiders...but not to those of us who lived it day in day out with that Cub team.
So far, Derrek Lee has been BETTER than Dawson in '87!
And, in my eyes, far, far better than the 1998 Sosa. Sure, Sosa had his 20 homer June, and no Cub since Hack Wilson, and no Cub afterwards will ever approach the sheer power that he displayed that year, and in 2001, which in my mind was an even MORE impressive year than Sosa's MVP year.
But, Jeezus Lowheezus, Lee is hitting nearly .400, stealing bases, and driving in EVERYBODY that gets on in front of him. Plus, he performing his usual miracles down at first.
I honestly don't expect it to all continue. But at this pace, Derrek Lee would have the Single Greatest All-Around Year by a Cub. Ever. Try 45 homers, 220 hits, 140 RBI, 25 steals, 140 runs, AND hitting near 400?
And we're, what, nine games out of first?
What a waste....
External links
- Baseball-Reference.com - career statistics and analysis
| Preceded by Barry Bonds |
National League Batting Champion 2005 |
Succeeded by Freddy Sánchez |
| Preceded by Todd Helton |
NL First Base Gold Glove Winner 2003 |
Succeeded by Todd Helton |
| Preceded by Adrián Beltré |
National League Player of the Month September, 2005 |
Succeeded by Bobby Abreu |
| Preceded by Todd Helton |
NL First Base Gold Glove Winner 2005 |
Succeeded by Albert Pujols |
| 2007 National League Central Champion Chicago Cubs Starting Lineup: 1. Alfonso Soriano LF | 2. Ryan Theriot SS | 3. Derrek Lee 1B | 4. Aramis Ramirez 3B | 5. Cliff Floyd/Matt Murton RF | 6. Mark DeRosa 2B | 7. Jacque Jones CF | 8. Jason Kendall/Geovany Soto C Starting Pitchers: Carlos Zambrano | Ted Lilly | Rich Hill | Jason Marquis | Sean Marshall | Steve Trachsel |
Categories: Major league players from California | National League All-Stars | Chicago Cubs players | Florida Marlins players | San Diego Padres players | Major league first basemen | Gold Glove Award winners | 1975 births | Living people | African American baseball players | People from Sacramento, California | 2006 World Baseball Classic players of the United States | National League batting champions
