Bill 'Spaceman' Lee Running For Governor In Vermont
BOSTON (CBS) -- Just when you thought this election season couldn't get any more entertaining.
Bill "Spaceman" Lee, who toed the rubber for the Boston Red Sox from 1969 to 1978, is blasting off into the world of politics. He's tossed his cap into Vermont's race for governor, running as a member of the Liberty Union party.
The always entertaining Lee supports legalizing marijuana in Vermont, a single-payer health care system and paid family leave. Perhaps most importantly, he wants the Expos to return to Montreal.
"I'm a pragmatic, conservative, forward thinker," Lee told WCAX in Vermont.
"The problem with Americans is their fist is like this (closed), and you got to open your hands. Republicans are pterodactyls, they have little short arms that never get to their front pockets," said Lee.
He vows that money will be distributed from the "2 percent" and that voters will "need umbrellas" if he's elected because "it's going to be raining dollars."
And if Donald Trump wins the presidential election in November: "If things don't go our way, if we get Trump as president, I'm out of here and I'll take Vermont with us," promised Lee.
This isn't the first time Spaceman has taken the hill in the world of politics, running for president back in 1988 under the Rhinoceros party.
Lee played 14 major league seasons from 1969 to 1983, 10 for the Red Sox and four for the Expos, and compiled a 119-90 record with a 3.62 ERA over 416 appearances. He holds the Red Sox' record for most games pitched by a lefty, and was elected to the team's Hall of Fame in 2008.