Derrek Lee

Derrek Leon Lee is a professional baseball player who plays as a first baseman in his home country, the USA. The son of Leon Lee, Leon often played baseball in Japan during his stays in the country during summer vacations. He attended the El Camino High School and incredible performances in school ensured that immediately upon graduation, he was picked by the San Diego Padres as the 14th pick in the first round of the 1993 MLB Draft.

Playing through the minor leagues, Leon made his debut for the Padres in 1997 but a year and very few games later, he was traded out to the Florida Marlins. He stayed with the Marlin up until 2003 and was also a member of the 2003 World Series winning team of the Marlins. He even won the Golden glove in 2003 for an incredible grab and unassisted putout that pretty much handed the defeat to the New York Yankees in Game 5 of the World Series.

In 2004, he was traded out to the Chicago Cubs and in his first year, had a .278 average at bat, with 32 home runs and 98 RBI. The next year, he led the MLB with a .376 batting average, 72 RBI and 27 home runs that tied him for the lead in homers. In 2005, Sammy Sosa was traded out by the Cubs and when things looked grim for them, Leon stepped up to the plate and had one of his best seasons. He was leading the MLB in the triple-crown categories of batting average, home runs and RBIs. His .335 batting average was the highest in the Franchise's history since Bill Madlock's 1976 average of 0.339. He won the National League batting title to become the first Cub to do so since Bill Buckner in 1980. He was named to the roster of the 2006 World Baseball Classic and became the first player to hit a home run for team USA in the competition.

Lee spent most of the latter half of the 2006 season on the injury list after first, breaking his wrist in a collision and then, with an inflammation in the same wrist as a result of the previous injury. Lee was involved in a punch-up in the middle with Padres pitcher Chris Young. The incident began when Young hit Lee on the wrist in a pitch that was coming towards his head. The two chatted as Lee walked towards first base and in the middle, they stopped and walked towards each other with Lee throwing punches on the pitcher. Both were ejected from the game. Lee earned a five game suspension for his act.

Through his career, Leon has won numerous awards that included the likes of 3 Golden Glove awards in 2003, 2005 and 2007, the 2005 Silver Slugger award and the 2003 World Championship trophy.