| Derrek, who was acquired in the 2003
offseason from the Florida Marlins, was a Triple Crown threat
in 2005 - winning the National League batting title and making
his first career appearance at the All-Star Game ... since the
start of the 2000 campaign, he has played in at least 155 games
every year - recording 185 homers and 210 doubles over the six-season
stretch ... his homer total ranks fourth among National League
first basemen during the decade, while his extra-base hits (415)
and games played (952) totals place him third and first, respectively,
among NL players at that position ... has hit at least 20 homers
in each of his last six seasons and has 67 steals over the last
four years - the most by any National League first baseman ...
is a two-time Rawlings Gold Glove recipient, and is a career .994
fielder at first base ... was honored with the Louisville Slugger
Silver Bat Award (presented annually to each league's batting
champion) and a Silver Slugger Award in 2005 ... was the leading
vote-getter in National League All-Star balloting in 2005, edging
St. Louis' Albert Pujols as the starter at first base ... became
the first Cub first baseman to be named to the All-Star team since
Mark Grace in 1997 and the first Cub first baseman to start an
All-Star Game since Ernie Banks in 1965 ... was named the National
League Player of the Month for April 2005 ... also was twice honored
as National League Player of the Week (for the weeks ending May
1 and May 29, 2005) ... is a 1993 graduate of El Camino (CA) High
School ... turned down a basketball scholarship to the University
of North Carolina to play baseball ... his father, Leon, served
as the Cubs' Pacific Rim coordinator from 1998-2002 ... his uncle,
Leron, spent parts of 10 seasons in the majors with St. Louis
(1969-71), San Diego (1971-73), Cleveland (1974-75) and Los Angeles
(1975-76) ... works to bring baseball to the community through
RBI Baseball.
2006 Highlights:
Lee was unable to defend his batting title because of a fractured
wrist on April 19 that forced him to miss much of the season.
He finished with a personal-low 50 games. Lee did celebrate his
birthday in style, hitting his seventh career grand slam Sept.
6 against Pittsburgh. It was his fifth career home run on his
birthday. He was activated from the disabled list in June, but
had to go back on the DL to build up strength in his wrist. Lee
appeared as a pinch-hitter Sept. 30, his first appearance since
Sept. 14. He took a leave to attend to his daughter, Jada, who
lost vision in one eye.
2005 Highlights:
Derrek was the leading vote-getter in National League All-Star
balloting and continued to excel through the second half of the
season, winning his first career National League batting title
and finishing third in NL MVP voting ... became the seventh Cub
to win batting title honors since 1900 and the first since Bill
Buckner did so in 1980 ... hit .335 with 50 doubles, 46 homers
and 107 RBI in 158 games ... his .335 average was the fourth-highest
in club annals ... ranked first in the league in hits (199), doubles,
total bases (393), extra-base hits (99) and slugging percentage
(.662) ... was second in homers, runs scored (120) and intentional
walks (23); fourth in on-base percentage (.418) and seventh in
RBI ... established career marks in hits, runs, doubles, roundtrippers,
extra-base hits, total bases, RBI and slugging percentage ...
became the ninth Cub to homer 40 times in a season and the 28th
Cub to drive in 100 or more runs in a season ... ranked fourth
among National League first baseman in fielding percentage, committing
6 errors in 1,450 total chances (.996) and turning 118 double
plays ... won his second career Rawlings Gold Glove ... set a
franchise mark for most home runs by a Cub first baseman, surpassing
Ernie Banks' record ... also finished the year with 15 stolen
bases, tying Corey Patterson for the club lead ... Lee was the
first Cub first baseman to lead the team in steals since 1956
... teamed up with Aramis Ramirez to become the second pair of
Cub teammates in franchise history to have back-to-back 30-homer
seasons ... Billy Williams and Ron Santo were the first with 30-homer
seasons in 1964 and 1965 ... was honored with his first career
All-Star selection - and was the first Cub first baseman to be
named to the team since Mark Grace in 1997 ... was the first Cub
first baseman to start an All-Star Game since Ernie Banks in 1965
... went 1-for-3 with a double, becoming the first Cub to notch
an extra-base hit in the Midsummer Classic since Andre Dawson
homered and Ryne Sandberg doubled in the 1991 game ... recorded
one of most prolific Aprils in club history, ranking first in
club annals dating back to 1969 in RBI (28), batting average (.419)
and total bases (66) ... was honored as the National League Player
of the Month for his efforts, becoming the first Cub position
player to receive the award since Sammy Sosa in 2001 ... was a
two-time NL Player of the Week selection, winning the award for
the weeks ending May 1 and May 29 ... had hits in 122 of the 158
games in which he appeared, becoming the fifth Cub in franchise
history to record at least one hit in 122 or more games, joining
Glenn Beckert, Bill Buckner, Ryne Sandberg and Billy Williams
... Lee did not go hitless in more than two consecutive games
all season ... ranked among the Top 10 in franchise annals in
several categories: doubles (tied for fourth with Kiki Cuyler
with 50), extra-base hits in a season (second with 99) and total
bases (sixth with 393) ... his 120 runs scored and 107 RBI were
the highest totals by a Cub first baseman dating back to 1900
... the first baseman became the first Cub in club history to
drive in 100 runs, cross the plate 100 times, hit 40 doubles and
hit 40 home runs ... also became one of 17 Cubs in history to
score 100 runs and drive in 100 runs; one of six Cubs to score
100, drive in 100 and homer 40 times; and one of four Cubs to
score 100, drive in 100 and double 40 times ... drew 2 intentional
walks in three separate games, becoming the seventh Cub to have
three multiple intentional-walk games since 1960, joining Ernie
Banks, Sammy Sosa, Billy Williams, Don Kessinger, Bobby Murcer
and Andre Dawson ... had a career-best 18-game hitting streak
April 17-May 7, batting .455 (30-66) with 7 doubles, 7 homers
and 21 RBI over the stretch ... also had an 11-game hitting streak
June 12-June 23, batting .500 with 6 doubles, 5 homers and 11
RBI ... went 4-for-4 with a pair of home runs and 6 RBI April
27 against Cincinnati ... the 6 RBI tied a career high and led
the Cubs to an 8-7 defeat of the Reds ... hit a 10th-inning, game-winning
walkoff solo home run May 11 off Met Heath Bell in a 4-3 Cub win
... went 4-for-4 with a double, two homers and four RBI May 17
against Pittsburgh ... belted a solo home run off Josh Fogg in
the seventh inning and a game-winning, two-run home run off Jose
Mesa in the top of the ninth inning in a 4-3 Cub win ... recorded
his third two-homer game of the season in a 10-3 defeat of Colorado
on May 27 ... went back-toback with Neifi Perez in the sixth inning
and then went deep again in the eighth ... also singled and drew
a pair of walks in the game ... went deep twice for the second
consecutive game May 28, hitting homers off of Byung-Hyun Kim
in the first and sixth innings in a 5-1 Cub victory ... he was
the first Cub batter to record back-to-back two-homer games since
Sammy Sosa did so on May 1-2, 2002, at San Diego ... reached base
safely in 10 straight plate appearances June 1-June 2 (2 walks,
7 singles, 1 home run) ... went 5-for-5 with four singles, a homer
and 4 RBI June 1 against Los Angeles ... recorded his 1,000th
career hit June 2 at San Diego, a sixth-inning single off Tim
Stauffer ... hit his 30th homer of the season July 18 in Cincinnati
(in the 92nd game of the season), hitting a pair of solo homers
in a 9-4 Cubs win ... became the fourth Cub to reach the 30-homer
mark before the club's 100th game, joining Dave Kingman, Hank
Sauer and Sammy Sosa ... belted a pair of home runs August 11
against St. Louis ... hit a three-run shot in the fourth inning
and a solo shot in the sixth inning for his 16th career multi-homer
game and his seventh of the season ... went 3-for-5 with a pair
of solo homers and 3 RBI August 28 against Florida ... hit a solo
shot off Josh Beckett in the first inning and a solo shot off
Brian Moehler in the eighth inning in the 14-3 Cub win ... his
homer off Beckett was the 200th of his career and set a franchise
record for most home runs by a Cubs first baseman in a season
(38). |
