RUTHVEN – Blaise Jacobsen of the Jackson Bulls was the catcher for Bill Lee of the Savannah Bananas at a banana-style scrimmage with the Graettinger-Terril/Ruthven-Ayrshire baseball team this week in Ruthven, Iowa. Jacobsen is an assistant coach with the Jackson County Central High School baseball team and Head Coach of the Jackson American Legion team.
The 75-year-old Lee, nicknamed “Spaceman” played 14 seasons in the major leagues with the Boston Red Sox and Montreal Expos.
He was the starting pitcher in two games in the 1975 World Series vs. Cincinnati, which is ranked first or second in most polls as the greatest World Series ever. The 1991 series between the Twins and Atlanta usually occupies the other spot atop those ratings.
Lee started Game 2 after the Red Sox had won the opening game and left the game leading 2-1 after pitching eight innings. The Reds scored two in the ninth to win.
In Game 7 he pitched six and one-third innings and Boston led 3-2 when Lee left the game.
Cincinnati’s runs came on a home run by Tony Perez that scored Johnny Bench ahead of him. Lee threw Perez a "Leephus pitch", a personalized variation of the eephus pitch that was popularized by Rip Sewell.
Curt Gowdy and Tony Kubek with the call on NBC:
Following the 1978 season, Lee was traded to the Montreal Expos. He won 16 games for the Expos in 1979 and was named The Sporting News National League Left Hander of the Year over Philadelphia's Steve Carlton.
Lee was with Montreal in 1981 when the Expos lost the then best-of-five National League Championship Series 3 games to 2 to the Los Angeles Dodgers. He pitched in relief in Game 4 of the series.
His professional career ended in 1982 when Montreal released him after staging a one-game walkout as a protest over the team's decision to release second baseman and friend Rodney Scott.
He made his debut with the Bananas this spring. Here is his return to baseball:
In 1988, Lee was the Rhinoceros Party presidential candidate. The party is not recognized in the United States.
His platform?
Bulldoze the Rocky Mountains so Alberta could receive a few extra minutes of sunlight and banning guns and butter.
His slogan was "No guns, no butter. Both can kill."
Warren Zevon included a song titled “Bill Lee” on his 1980 “Bad Luck Streak in Dancing School” album.
You’re probably aware that two years before that, Zevon released “Werewolves of London” That was the only top 40 hit of his career.
The obvious thing to do here would be include a link to Werewolves.
Instead, here’s Zevon on The Late Show with David Letterman performing “Hit Somebody ( The Hockey Song)” in 2002.
We’ll likely have more on this day in a future newsletter.