Today on the blog we have a 1973 "career-capper" for former Los Angeles Dodger Rookie of the Year and future manager Jim Lefebvre, who played the last of his Big League games during the 1972 season:
Lefebvre
played in 70 games for the Dodgers in 1972, hitting .201 with 34 hits
over 169 at-bats, before deciding to take his talents to japan where he
played for the Lotte Orions between 1974 and 1976.
He made his
Big League debut in 1965 and promptly took home the N.L. Rookie of the
Year Award by season's end, somewhat controversial since many believe
(including yours truly), that Joe Morgan of the Houston Astros deserved
it.
Nevertheless, Lefebvre was a starter for the next two
seasons in L.A., shifting back and forth between second and third base,
even making the All-Star team in 1966.
Between 1968 and 1972
however, he never put in a full season again, topping out at 119 games
in 1971 before the 70 games in 1972.
All told, for his major
League tenure, he finished with a career .251 average over 922 games and
3014 at-bats, collecting 756 hits while scoring 313 runs.
Years
later, beginning in 1989, he'd become a Major League manager, beginning
with the Seattle Mariners for three years before moving on to the
Chicago Cubs for the 1992 and 1993 seasons, then a partial season with
the Milwaukee Brewers in 1999, finishing with a career 233-253 record
over six seasons.
