Former Grant High baseball star to be inducted in Sacramento Sports Hall of Fame
SACRAMENTO — This weekend, the Sacramento Sports Hall of Fame introduces a new class including one former Grant High School baseball star that rounds out a family of inductees.
Leon Lee has been waiting for the call for a long time.
"When he called me this time, he said 'Bro, you made it,' and I said, 'Oh yes!' I was pretty fired up," he said.
The father of Chicago Cubs star Derrek Lee and the brother of Leron Lee, he was hoping to round out the group as hall of fame inductees.
"You hear the stories of people telling you how good you were," Lee said. "Basically, I was trying to keep up with my older brother and the guys around his age – Dusty Baker and Bob Oliver."
His career took him to St. Louis where he played with legends like Bob Gibson.
"A person of his stature wouldn't be in the fall league – Lou Brock and some of the guys – and I a hit a home run on him in batting practice and I looked it. And back in those days you didn't do that, so he drilled me right in the shoulder."
Then he went to Japan where he and his brother set records.
"We hit back-to-back home runs 12 times," Lee said. "I have the Japan record for a single game. I had 10 RBIs in one game."
Back in the States, he became an advocate for the Japanese Baseball League.
"I told Lou Pinella. 'Ichiro is going to get 250 hits.' He actually got 258," Lee said.
His journey has now led to him becoming a hall of famer in Sacramento and a model for the next generation of baseball players in the capital region.
"The Sacramento Sports Hall of Fame is extremely special," Lee said. "I think it's one of the premier hall of fames you can be inducted into because it's home."
The official induction ceremony happens at Thunder Valley Casino and Resort at 7 p.m. on Sunday.