Derrek Lee

Verified Timeline

Lore & Background

Lee was born on September 6, 1975, in Sacramento, California. His father Leon played professional baseball in Japan in NPB, and his uncle Leron also played in both MLB and NPB. During his elementary years, Lee lived in Japan, and during his high school years, he often stayed in Japan during his summer breaks. He played Little League Baseball at Whitney Little League and graduated from El Camino High School in 1993. Lee was drafted in the first round (14th overall) of the 1993 MLB draft by the San Diego Padres, and made his MLB debut on April 28, 1997. He was traded, along with prospects, to the Florida Marlins a year later for Kevin Brown. Lee was a member of the 2003 World Series Marlins championship team. Lee won his first Gold Glove during the 2003 championship season and his spectacular grab and unassisted putout on a hard-hit Hideki Matsui one-hop line drive snuffed out a Yankees rally and ended Game 5 of the World Series with a Marlins victory. The Marlins went on to win the World Series in Game 6. Lee was traded to the Cubs for Hee-seop Choi, who, coincidentally, had been scouted by Lee's father years before. He hit .278 with 32 home runs and 98 RBIs 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 RBIs, and a tie for the major league lead in home runs with 27. The Cubs had traded superstar Sammy Sosa, who had previously been one of their best hitters, before the 2005 season. 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 RBIs. Lee finished the season with a career-high 46 home runs and led the National League in batting average (.335), slugging percentage (.662), on-base plus slugging (1.080), hits (199), doubles (50), extra-base hits (99), total bases (393), and runs created (167). His batting average was the highest by a Cub since Bill Madlock's .339 in 1976 and made him the first Cub since Bill Buckner in 1980 to win a National League batting title. Lee became the first player in major league history to record 50 doubles, 40 home runs, and 15 stolen bases in one season. He also finished third in NL MVP voting and won the NL Gold Glove and

In Their Own Story

On June 25, 2010, the atmosphere at Wrigley Field turned tense during a game involving Cubs pitcher Carlos Zambrano. After Zambrano surrendered four runs in the first inning, he apparently blamed Lee for failing to field a sharply-hit lead-off double, leading to a dugout altercation that resulted in Zambrano's suspension. This incident occurred just weeks after Lee reached another milestone; on June 9, 2010, against the Milwaukee Brewers, Lee hit his 300th career home run. His time with the Cubs also included a strong 2008 season where he hit 20 home runs and drove in 90 runs, helping the team secure the NL Central championship before they lost to the Los Angeles Dodgers in the NLDS. Earlier, in April 2006, Lee faced adversity when he broke his wrist less than two weeks after signing his massive extension in a collision with baserunner Rafael Furcal, missing 59 games as the Cubs posted a 19–40 record during his absence.

Reader's Guide

Lee is the son of Leon Lee. Leon never played in the Major Leagues, but did play professionally in Japan. 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. Lee is the nephew of former Major League outfielder Leron Lee, who played eight seasons with the St. Louis Cardinals, Dodgers, Indians, and Padres. Currently, he works with the Cincinnati Reds as an advising batting coach to scouted players. In September 2006, Lee's three-year-old daughter Jada 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 with the University of Iowa established Project 3000 in an effort to eradicate the disease, which affects both their families. Lee guest starred in an episode of NBC's drama series ER, "Gravity", which was first broadcast in October 2007. Lee agreed to the brief appearance because the producers of ER aired an episode in January 2008 that deals with Leber's congenital amaurosis. Lee's efforts to raise awareness and funds for research into the condition have helped to raise over $1,000,000 of additional research funds. An eventual cure for the disease depends greatly on getting data on patients and Lee's support has had a significant impact both in fundraising and testing patients who have the disease. In 2009, Lee revealed that Jada had been misdiagnosed and does not have the disease, but Lee continues to be active in raising money for Project 3000. The 1st Touch Foundation was established in 2005 by Lee and his wife as a vehicle to encourage and support the educational aspirations of the community's young people. The initial vision was to build The 1st Touch Academic Youth Center in Sacramento, California. In 2009, Lee unveiled a cabernet wine called CaberLee through Charity Wines where 100% of the proceeds will benefit the 1st Touch Foundation. However, in September 2012, the foundation closed after helping children in Sacramento for seven years. Lee has visited countries such as Uganda and Israel to help out with the baseball programs. He visited the Israel Baseball Academy in 2015 helping them out with skills while visiting the country.

Did You Know?

• Lee won the National League batting title in 2005 with a .335 average, the highest by a Cub since Bill Madlock's .339 in 1976.
• Lee became the first player in major league history to record 50 doubles, 40 home runs, and 15 stolen bases in one season.
• Lee's unassisted putout on a Hideki Matsui line drive ended Game 5 of the 2003 World Series with a Marlins victory.
• Lee's daughter Jada was initially diagnosed with Leber's congenital amaurosis, but was later found to be misdiagnosed.