Ron LeFlore
| Ron LeFlore | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Center fielder | |||
|
Born: June 16, 1948 Detroit, Michigan |
|||
|
|||
| MLB debut | |||
| August 1, 1974, for the Detroit Tigers | |||
| Last MLB appearance | |||
| September 3, 1982, for the Chicago White Sox | |||
| MLB statistics | |||
| Batting average | .288 | ||
| Hits | 1,283 | ||
| Run batted in | 353 | ||
| Stolen bases | 455 | ||
| Teams | |||
| Career highlights and awards | |||
|
|||
Ronald LeFlore (born June 16, 1948) is a former Major League Baseball center fielder. He played six seasons with the Detroit Tigers before being traded to the Montreal Expos, retiring as a Chicago White Sox in 1982. He stole 455 bases in his career, and was an American League All-Star selection in 1976. A movie and book were made about his rise to the major leagues after being an inmate at the Jackson State Penitentiary. One in a Million: The Ron LeFlore Story was a made-for-television movie starring LeVar Burton that aired on CBS in 1978. LeFlore is the cousin of former MLB outfielder Todd Steverson.
LeFlore was born in Detroit, Michigan and was involved in the criminal justice system at an early age. In the book Breakout: From Prison to the Big Leagues, LeFlore relates growing up in a crime-ridden section of Detroit. Although his parents were married, his father was an unemployed alcoholic who rarely took part in family life. His mother was a hard working nurses' aide who held the family together financially and physically, even feeding Ron while he was a heroin addict and small-time drug dealer. He credits his mother's compassion for his survival during this period.
He was introduced to shooting heroin in a neighborhood 'shooting gallery'. He dropped out of school and spent many nights breaking into the Stroh's Brewery on Gratiot Avenue, stealing beer and getting drunk with friends. After dropping out of school, he played no organized sports and rarely followed the Tigers, although he had been to Tiger Stadium at least once in childhood, sitting in the upper bleachers with his father. First arrested at fifteen, he was ultimately sentenced to 5–15 years in state prison at the State Prison of Southern Michigan (usually called Jackson State Penitentiary) for armed robbery.
...
Wikipedia