Lee Stevens
| Lee Stevens | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| First baseman | |||
|
Born: July 10, 1967 Kansas City, Missouri |
|||
|
|||
| MLB debut | |||
| July 16, 1990, for the California Angels | |||
| Last MLB appearance | |||
| September 27, 2002, for the Cleveland Indians | |||
| MLB statistics | |||
| Batting average | .254 | ||
| Home runs | 144 | ||
| Runs batted in | 531 | ||
| Teams | |||
DeWain Lee Stevens (born July 10, 1967) is a former first baseman and designated hitter drafted by the California Angels in 1986. A highly regarded prospect, Stevens batted .314 with 19 home runs for the Edmonton Trappers in 1991. The Angels considered him heir apparent to popular first baseman Wally Joyner. However, in parts of three seasons he hit just .225 with little power.
Before his baseball career ended, Stevens played for the Kintetsu Buffaloes, Texas Rangers, Montreal Expos and Cleveland Indians.
The California Angels selected Stevens out of Lawrence High School in Kansas in the first round (22nd overall) of the 1986 amateur draft. Rick Sutcliffe had been the only other high school player from the Kansas City area selected in the first round of the draft.
Stevens first played at the major-league level with the Angels between 1990 and 1992. After about 200 at bats in the 1992 season, Stevens was struggling with less than a .200 batting average and manager Buck Rodgers did not think that he was open to receiving help. Working with hitting instructor Rod Carew, Stevens adjusted his batting stance to keep his bat on his shoulder. He hit .395 for the month of August. He finished the season with a .221 batting average and seven home runs.
Traded to the Toronto Blue Jays organization the following January, Stevens spent the 1993 season in the minor leagues with the Class AAA Syracuse Chiefs of the International League. In 116 games, Stevens batted .264 with 14 home runs, but he was not promoted to the major leagues that year. He signed with the Kintetsu Buffaloes in Japan after the 1993 season; he would get $425,000 for 1994, with an option for a second year. He hit 20 or more home runs in each of two seasons with the team.
...
Wikipedia