Leon Lee is a former minor league baseball player and minor league manager. He played first base and third base during his career, batting and throwing right-handed. He is the father of Pittsburgh Pirates player Derrek Lee. Leon Lee was selected in the 9th round, 198th overall, by the St. Louis Cardinals in the 1971 draft. He spent seven straight years in Cardinals' minor league system without playing in a Major League Baseball game. Lee then moved to Japan at the suggestion of his older brother, former American Major League player Leron Lee, who was playing for the Lotte Orions, a Nippon... Professional Baseball team. 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, behind his brother's average. Lee was traded to the Yokohama Taiyo Whales and played 1983-1985 until he was suddenly fired in 1985. He was re-hired by the Yakult Swallows, and played from 1986-1987 before returning to the United States. As a Swallows player, Lee befriended new NPB player Bob Horner in 1987.
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