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Derrek Lee

Chicago Cubs — No. 25
First base
Bats: Right	Throws: Right
Major League Baseball debut
April 28, 1997 for the San Diego Padres
Selected MLB statistics (through 2006 season)
Batting average	.276
Home runs	216
Runs batted in	656
Former teams
San Diego Padres (1997) Florida Marlins (1998–2003) Chicago Cubs (2004–present)

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 affecting both their families.

Contents 1 Awards 2 Career statistics 3 Trivia 4 External links

• 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.

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	216	656	671	550	1036	86	.994

• 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.

• Lee is in Frosted Flakes commercials

• Derrek Lee received a full-ride scholarship offer from the University of North Carolina to play basketball.

• Baseball-Reference.com - career statistics and analysis
• Derrek Lee at ESPN.com
• Derrek Lee stolen base, home run photos 08/28/2005
• MLB.com

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