Career
He played first base, third base and catcher during his career, batting and throwing right-handed. American baseball career
Leon Lee was selected in the ninth round (198th overall) by the Saint Louis Cardinals in the 1971 draft. He spent seven years in the Cardinals" minor league system without playing in a Major League Baseball (MLB) game.
Japanese baseball career
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 where he played from 1983–1985. He finished his career in Japan with the Yakult Swallows from 1986–1987 before returning to the United States.
Scouting and managing
His past experience in Japan helped him become the Pacific Rim scout for the Chicago Cubs in 1998. After the 2002 MLB season, Lee left the Cubs and returned to Japan to serve as the Orix BlueWave"s hitting coach for the 2003 NPB season.
The manager, Hiromichi Ishige, was fired in April, and Lee was promoted to manager, becoming the first African-American manager in Japanese baseball history.
On May 17, 2003, the BlueWave faced the Nippon Ham Fighters, managed by Trey Hillman, for a battle between two American managers in Japan for the first time in 28 years. The Blue Waves were a good offensive team, but the pitching staff posted a 5.95 team European Research Area, and the team finished in last place with a 48-88-4 record. The club hired a Japanese manager for the next season and Lee was offered, but declined, the hitting coach position.
= Brooklyn Cyclones In February 2004, Lee was hired to manage the Brooklyn Cyclones, a Class-A New York Mets minor-league affiliate.
On April 8, he was arrested for indecent exposure in a hotel after seeking to quiet a noisy late-night crowd that was disturbing his team While the charges were still pending, he was forced to resign before managing his first game.
Although Lee pressed for a court date to clear his name, the charges were dropped in 2005. Lee also served as a consultant in the making of the 1992 film Mr.