Carlos Lee

With 358 major-league round-trippers, Carlos Lee is the all-time leader in home runs among players born in Panama.1 He was a career .285 hitter with a .339 on-base percentage and never struck out more than 100 times in a season. Lee had five consecutive 30-homer seasons and 11 consecutive 20-homer seasons. He also stole double-digit bases in seven seasons and played in 140 or more games in all but one season.

In his 14-year major-league career, mainly spent as an outfielder and third baseman with the Chicago White Sox and Houston Astros, Lee collected 2,273 hits His 17 grand slams tie him with Ted Williams and Jimmie Foxx for seventh place on the career grand-slam list, more than Babe Ruth and Hank Aaron among others. As of 2024 he was the only player to hit three grand slams in extra innings, two of which were walk-off smashes.

Lee was born on June 20, 1976, in Aguadulce, Panama, a small town about 85 miles from Panama City. He was the second of three children born to Carlos and Olga Lee. His family were cattle farmers, but his father was a manager in a communications company and his mother taught at the local school. Carlos Senior played amateur baseball in Aguadulce.

Young Carlos was playing third base on the provincial all-star team when he was scouted and signed for the White Sox in 1994 by Miguel Ibarra.2 The 18-year-old struggled at his first stop in the White Sox minor-league system, the GCL White Sox, going 7-for-56 (.125).

After 67 games with the 1995 Bristol White Sox (rookie-level Appalachian League), in which he batted .346 and hit 7 home runs, Lee was promoted to the Hickory Crawdads of the Class-A South Atlantic League. Playing in 63 games, he batted .248 with 4 home runs. Back in Hickory in 1996, Lee, now 20 years old, was the regular third baseman, playing in 119 games, and led the team with 70 RBIs. He hit .313, with 8 home runs. Lee had the lowest strikeout rate on the team at 9.73 percent.

Lee was moved up to High A in 1997 at age 21, to Winston Salem of the Carolina League. On a team that featured 11 future major leaguers, Lee showcased his future all-star caliber slugging ability. He hit for a .317 batting average with 17 homers and 82 RBIs in 139 games. Baseball America ranked Lee the number 43 major-league prospect. He continued his climb up the baseball ladder in 1998 and rose to Baseball America’s number 28 prospect after batting .302 with 21 home runs and 106 RBIs in 138 games for the Birmingham Barons of the Double-A Southern League.

Lee started the 1999 season with the Charlotte Knights of the Triple-A International League, one step away from the major leagues. His tenure with the Knights was brief: After 25 games, in which he batted .351 with 4 home runs and 20 RBIs, the 23-year-old Lee was called up to the White Sox in early May and soon made history in his first at-bat.

On May 7, 1999, Lee got a chance to live out his childhood dream of playing professional baseball at the highest level. Lee replaced outfielder Jeff Abbott, who was optioned to Charlotte after hitting .158 with 2 home runs and 6 RBIs to start the season.3 This was considered a puzzling move by the White Sox; Lee had very little experience playing left field, as throughout his minor-league journey he was mostly a third baseman. Asked why the club decided to send Abbott down to Charlotte and bring up Lee, White Sox general manager Ron Schueler said simply, “(His) bat’s hot, and right now we need offense.”4

Lee himself was perplexed. He told a sportswriter, “I didn’t expect to get called up when I was playing left field for a week and a half. When they called me up I was like ‘Where am I going to play?’”

His lack of experience playing left field aside, Lee’s bat stole the show in his debut.5

The White Sox were a charter member of the American League. Never had a White Sox player hit a home run in his first at-bat. When Lee came to bat in the second inning against the Oakland Athletics’ Tom Candiotti, Lee took a Candiotti knuckleball deep for career homer number one in a game the White Sox won 7-1.

Outfield inexperience aside, in his rookie season, the 6-foot-2, 270-pound Lee established himself as the team’s left fielder, playing in 127 games and batting .293 with 16 home runs and 84 RBIs. In 2018, Hall of Famer Frank Thomas, rookie Lee’s teammate, explained why he had been very impressed with the young slugger: “I see a young me in Carlos Lee. The way he goes through pitches and how he hits the ball to right field. I watch him hit and think: those are the things I used to do [at that age]. I think he’s the second coming.”6

In 2000 Lee, firmly ensconced in left field, batted .301 in 152 games with 24 home runs and 92 RBIs. On July 9 he hit two home runs against the crosstown rival Chicago Cubs in a 9-6 defeat at Wrigley Field. Lee had four games with four hits during the season – June 6, July 7, July 27, and September 4. On June 23, Lee hit a game-tying home run in the ninth inning off the best closer in baseball, future Hall of Famer Mariano Rivera. The 95-67 White Sox had the best record in the American League but were swept 3 games to none in the opening round of the playoffs by the Seattle Mariners, despite having home-field advantage. Lee had 12 plate appearances in the series but could muster only one hit, a double, though he drove in a run with a sacrifice fly.  This was a disappointing performance for Lee, despite his regular-season success, and it wound up being Lee’s only major-league postseason appearance.

In 2001 Lee’s offensive performance fell off: He batted .269 with 24 home runs and 84 RBIs. During the season, Lee had seven games in which he had three hits, and in four of these games, Lee hit a home run. On June 8 Lee hit a 10th-inning walk-off grand slam against the Cubs at Comiskey Park. The next day he had four hits – all singles – in a 10-inning loss to the Cubs. After his four-hit game, Lee was batting .320, but his output fell steadily the rest of the season. The White Sox (83-79) finished third in the AL Central and missed the playoffs. 

Lee’s batting average dropped slightly in 2002, to .264. He hit 26 home runs and drove in 80 runs. He had three two-home-run games, on June 16 against the Cubs, June 26 against the Minnesota Twins, and July 14 vs. the Detroit Tigers. In the Tigers game, Lee collected four hits and scored three runs in a 6-4 win. In the June 16 game against the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field, one of Lee’s home runs was a grand slam in the top of the third inning against Cubs starting pitcher Kerry Wood. The White Sox went 81-81 and fell short of the postseason.

Lee’s true breakout season was 2003. The White Sox (86-76) finished in second place in the AL Central Division. Lee had his best offensive production year to date. Lee finished second on the team in home runs (31; Frank Thomas had 42) and led the team in runs scored (100), RBIs (113), and stolen bases (18). At age 27, Lee established himself as a perennial slugger with consistent power. So much so that his stats in 2004 mimicked those of 2003 (.305, 31, 99). In 2004 Lee batted .305 with 31 home runs and 99 RBIs. Lee led the team in hits (180) and runs scored (103). The 2004 White Sox once again finished the season second in the AL Central Division.

Despite back-to-back career years for Lee, the White Sox determined that Lee’s tenure with the ball club would end after the 2004 season. On December 13 they traded Lee to the Milwaukee Brewers in a deal that sent Scott Podsednik, Luis Vizcaíno, and Travis Hinton to the White Sox. Lee’s tenure with the Brewers further solidified his reputation as a reliable power hitter. In 2005 he batted .265 with 32 home runs and a career-high 114 RBIs. Lee also earned his first All-Star appearance and his first Silver Slugger award.

Lee continued to hit well for the Brewers in 2006, but on July 28, at the trade deadline, he was sent to the Texas Rangers with Nelson Cruz for Francisco Cordero, Kevin Mench, and Laynce Nix. At the time of the trade, Lee was batting .286 with 28 home runs and 81 RBIs in 102 games. With the Rangers as a left fielder and designated hitter, he batted .322 with 9 home runs and 35 RBIs. Between both the Brewers and the Rangers, Lee hit a career-high 37 home runs while driving in 116 runs in 161 games. Lee earned another All-Star appearance with the Brewers before he was traded, once again reflecting his reputation as one of the best sluggers in baseball. After the 2006 season, Lee was a free agent and had the opportunity to pick where he played next, and he had an ideal landing spot.

On November 24, 2006, Lee signed with the Houston for $11.5 million, the richest contract in the franchise’s history to that point. Before signing, Lee had made it known to several top Texas cattlemen that his preference was to land in Houston via free agency because of a ranch and a bull he owned in nearby Wharton County.7 (Lee owned Slugger Ranch in Texas, where he raised prize-winning Brahman cattle, and nine ranches in his native Panama. In 2006 Lee’s entry was the Brahman Grand Champion at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo.8) In 2008 Lee donated $25,000 and over 300 bales of hay to support Texas ranchers whose properties were ravaged by Hurricane Ike.9

In 2007, his first year with the Astros, Lee played all 162 games and batted .303 with 190 hits, 43 doubles, and 32 home runs. On April 13, in the face of 20-mph winds, he hit three home runs at Philadelphia’s Citizens Bank Park in a 9-6 win over the Phillies. Admiring Lee’s feat, Astros manager Phil Garner said, “Carlos Lee must have hit 1,200 feet worth of homers on a night when I didn’t think anyone would hit any homers.”10 Lee finished 2007 with another All-Star Game appearance and his second Silver Slugger Award.

Lee spent six seasons with the Astros (2007-12). His home-run production declined over that span – 32 homers in 2007, then 28, then 26, then 24, and 18.

In 2008 Lee was on pace to have his best statistical year, but injuries limited him to 115 games. Injuries had never plagued Lee’s career as he played 150 or more games in 10 seasons and twice played all 162 games. Despite playing 47 fewer games in 2008 than in 2007, he batted .314, hit 28 home runs and drove in 100 runs. Lee again played all 160 games in 2009, once again establishing himself as a durable player who served as a power bat for his team. He batted .300, led the team with 26 home runs and 102 RBIs, and finished second on the team with 183 hits.

In 2010 the 34-year-old Lee’s production fell drastically. He played in 157 games and batted only .246 with 24 home runs and 89 RBIs. In 2011, Lee raised his batting average to .275 and had 94 RBIs but only 18 home runs on a team with the worst record in baseball (56-106). Still, at age 35 he played in 155 games and led the team in homers, doubles (38), RBIs (94), and runs (66).

As the 2012 trading deadline approached, the Astros were shopping the 36-year-old Lee around to other teams, and a deal with the Los Angeles Dodgers was heavily rumored.11 However, on July 2 discussions between the Astros and Dodgers had ended because of Lee’s opposition to being traded to the Dodgers.12 Two days later, on July 4, the Astros traded him Miami to the Marlins for Matt Dominguez and Rob Rasmussen. At the time of the trade, Lee was batting .287 for the Astros with 74 hits in 66 games but had only 5 home runs and 29 RBIs. After the trade, he played 81 games for the Marlins, hitting .243 with 4 home runs and 48 RBIs.

In an interview with MLB.com in 2010, Lee had stated his desire to retire after the 2012 season.

Lee said, “I don’t know if I’m going to play after this contract is up. I’m ready to go home. We spend so much time away from our family. I can’t spend any other time with my kids. I get home at 10 o’clock, 11 o’clock and they’re sleeping, and they get up at 6:30 in the morning to go to school and I see them 10, 15 minutes. I want to be able to spend time with my kids when they’re still young and healthy. I want to enjoy them.”13

Released by the Marlins after the 2012 season and unsigned in the offseason, Lee announced his retirement as a player on June 21, 2013.14

Before Lee signed his contract with the Astros, his father said the slugger wanted to be remembered as Panama’s best hitter.15 Lee’s biggest competitor for this title is Rod Carew, the Hall of Famer also from Panama. While Carew had over 3,000 hits, Lee was the better power hitter. Carew hit only 92 major-league home runs.

In an all-time Panama baseball team roster selected by USA Today, Carew was chosen as the best first baseman.16 Lee was selected as the best designated hitter from Panama – an honor that seems very appropriate for the power hitter from Panama.

Sources

In addition to the sources cited in the Notes, the author consulted Baseball-Reference.com and Retrosheet.org.

https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/player.fcgi?id=lee—004car

https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/L/Plee-c001.htm

Photo credit: Carlos Lee, Trading Card Database.

Notes

1 Andrew Mearns, “The Hall of Fame Case: Carlos Lee,” Cut4, January 9, 2008. https://www.mlb.com/cut4/the-hall-of-fame-case-for-carlos-lee-c264297312.

2 Chris Kamka, “When They Were Prospects: Carlos Lee,” NBC Sports Chicago, July 30, 2018. https://www.nbcsportschicago.com/mlb/chicago-white-sox/when-they-were-prospects-carlos-lee/381146/.

3 Jimmy Greenfield, “Carlos Lee Replaces Slump-Mired Abbott,” Chicago Tribune, May 8, 1999. https://www.proquest.com/chicagotribune/docview/418819288/fulltext/B5953D5CDC32451BPQ/1?accountid=69&sourcetype=Newspapers.

4 Greenfield.

5 Greenfield.

6 Kamka.

7 Jose De Jesus Ortiz, “Astros’ $100 Million Slugger Is a Breed Apart,” Houston Chronicle, February 11, 2007. https://www.chron.com/sports/astros/article/astros-100-million-slugger-is-a-breed-apart-1834678.php.

8 Ortiz.

9 Ortiz.

10 Andrew Mearns, “The Hall of Fame Case: Carlos Lee.”

11 Brett Logiurato, “Carlos Lee Trade Talks between Dodgers, Astros Officially off the Table,” Sports Illustrated, July 2, 2012. https://www.si.com/si-wire/2012/07/02/carlos-lee-trade-dodgers-astros-rumors-los-angeles.

12 Logiurato.

13 Drew Silva, “Astros’ Lee Says He May Retire after 2012 Season,” NBC Sports, May 6, 2010. https://www.nbcsports.com/mlb/news/astros-lee-says-he-may-retire-after-2012-season.

14 “Former OF Carlos Lee Retires,” ESPN.com, June 21, 2013. https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/9411658/carlos-lee-retires-baseball.

15 Ortiz, “Astros’ $100 Million Slugger Is a Breed Apart.”

16 “All-Latino Baseball Team: The Best All-Time Lineup of Players Born in Panama,” USA Today, September 24, 2021. https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/mlb/2021/09/24/best-panamanian-baseball-players-top-mlb-stars-panama/8362835002/.