The Phillies Other Cliff Lee

I imagine most readers of this blog are familiar with left-handed pitcher Cliff Lee, who, in two different stints with the Phillies, compiled a 48-34 record, as part of his career record of 143-91. Lee was particularly memorable in Philly because of his post-season work in 2009 where he helped the Phillies get to the World Series with playoff wins over the Colorado Rockies and Los Angeles Dodgers, and then recorded two more wins over the New York Yankees in that ill-fated World Series. 

What many Phillies fans may not know is that there was another Cliff Lee who played for the Phillies during the 1920s. This Cliff Lee, a right handed throwing and hitting first baseman/outfielder/catcher, is the living embodiment of obscure. When you go to this Cliff Lee's page on baseballreference.com and click on "player info", the page opens on the information page for Cliff Lee, the pitcher. That seems unjust and a little mean. This blog entry is my meager attempt to rescue "old" Cliff Lee from baseball obscurity.

Cliff Lee was born in Lexington, Nebraska on August 4, 1896. He grew into a lanky 6'1" and 175 pounder and began his professional career at 17 as a catcher with the Muscatine Buttonmakers in the Class D Central Association. After two years with the Buttonmakers, he moved to the Marshalltown Ansons of the same league, and then made the leap to the Portland Beavers of the Pacific Coast League. He split time between catching and the outfield. After hitting .359 for Portland, he was a Rule 5 selection of the Pittsburgh Pirates. He made his major league debut for the Pirates on May 15, 1919, getting two hits, including a double against the Phillies in a 5-0 Pirates win. 

After two years as a back up catcher/pinch hitter for the Pirates, Lee was placed on waivers and picked up by the Phillies. With the Phillies, Lee was converted to a first baseman, although he also played some outfield and caught occasionally, and he got a chance to play regularly. He was a solid and consistent hitter for the Phillies for three years, hitting .308, .322, and .321 in 1921, 1922, and 1923 respectively. His best year was 1922 when he was third in the league with 17 home runs (behind Rogers Hornsby and teammate Cy Williams) and eighth in the league in OPS+ at 125. He was top 10 in the league in slugging percentage in both 1922 and 1923.

On May 30, 1922, Lee hit the first home run ever launched over the left field wall at 27 year old Baker Bowl. According to the report in the Philadelphia Inquirer, "It was a tremendous drive. When bat met ball it sounded like the crack of a 45 caliber rifle. When [the ball] disappeared over the wall onto Lehigh Avenue, one wild roar arose from the delighted spectators." Lee also hit another home run in the game, but his two homers and five RBIs were not enough to help the Phillies avoid a 16-7 loss.

Lee's greatest game in the major leagues came just two months later on July 26, again at Baker Bowl, but this time in a 12-7 Phillies win. In this game the Phillies were up against future Hall of Famer and former Phillie, Eppa Rixey, now pitching for the Cincinnati Reds. In the first inning, Lee smashed a three run homer off Rixey to help the Phillies to an early 5-0 lead. Then in the bottom of the eighth, with the score narrowed to 8-7, Lee connected with another Rixey offering for another three-run home run. Lee added a single to his homers on the day for a final line of three hits in five at bats, two home runs, and six RBIs.

In 1924, Lee was relegated to back up duty and let it be known he was none too happy about it. In June he was sold to the Cincinnati Reds in a straight cash deal. After just a handful of games with the Reds, he was sent to St. Paul in the American Association to complete an earlier deal Cincinnati had made. He surfaced the following year with the Cleveland Indians and had another solid year, hitting .322 as a part time player. His final year in the big leagues was 1926 when he appeared in only 21 games for the Indians. That year he missed a month after suffering a severe gash to the thigh when he was spiked by the Detroit Tigers' Heinie Manush.

Lee spent his final four years of professional ball in the minor leagues, first with the Newark Bears in the International League and then with the Seattle Indians in the Pacific Coast League. 

This Cliff Lee may not have been the quality player that the later Cliff Lee was, but he was a pretty good hitter for his time. Lee was especially effective against left handed pitchers, compiling a lifetime .340 average against southpaws.  And, of course, he will always be the first player ever to hit the ball clear over the left field wall at Baker Bowl.