It is Manny Lee’s (yeah, I know he goes by Manuel now; I remember him/think of him as Manny) 59th birthday. I’ve heard he didn’t like the name ‘Manny’, but that’s how I remember him.
Manny played infield for the Blue Jays for eight seasons. He didn’t have much of a bat—he hit .254/.304/.323 in 753 games but could play short, second, third, and even a couple of games in the outfield.
The Mets signed Lee as a free agent out of the Dominican Republic in 1982. The Mets traded him and two other players to the Astros for Ray Knight. Knight would become a big part of the Mets’ 1986 World Series-winning team.
We picked him up in the 1984 Rule 5 draft.
He would be a utility infielder for us from 1985 to 1987.
In 1988, Lee played 116 games for us, mostly at second base but all over the infield. He had his best offensive season, hitting .291/.333/.365 with 2 home runs. In addition, he was good enough defensively to be a helpful player with that sort of batting line. Baseball Reference has him at 1.8 WAR that year.
1989 he didn’t hit as well, .260/.288/.340 in 99 games. We made it to the playoffs but lost to the A’s in the ALCS. Lee had 2 singles in 8 at-bats.
In 1990, he hit .243/.288/.340 in 117 games.
Before the 1991 season, the Jays made their most significant trade ever, sending Tony Fernandez and Fred McGriff to the Padres for Roberto Alomar and Joe Carter. That would be the end of Lee’s playing days at second base. Fortunately for Lee, there was no one else to play short.
Lee would hit .234/.274/.288 in 138 games. The Jays would make the playoffs again, but they lost out to the Twins in the ALCS. Similarly, Lee didn’t help much, hitting .125/.176/.125.
In 1992, we won our first World Series. Lee hit .263/.343/.316 in 128 games. He had a great ALCS, hitting .278/.300/.444, but then didn’t hit in our World Series win against the Braves, .105/.150/.105.
After the 1992 season, Lee left the team as a free agent, signing with the Rangers. He spent two seasons with the Rangers, hitting .256/.312/.322 in 168 games. After the 1994 season, he signed with the Cardinals, but he only played one game before being released and didn’t play in the majors again.
I wouldn’t say I liked Lee back in the day. He didn’t hit much, and I didn’t appreciate how good his defense was. Although, as a Jay, he had a 7.4 bWAR, most of that coming from his defense.
Lee is mainly remembered for his part in our collapse in 1987, when we lost our last seven games, finishing two games back of the Tigers. You might remember, on September 24th, Tigers’ DH Bill Madlock rolling-block into Tony Fernandez, which knocked Tony out of the lineup for the rest of the season. Lee hit .200/.243/.286 playing short in Fernandez’s place over those last ten games, and he made a costly error in our 12-inning loss to the Tigers in our second-last game.
I think we would have won the AL East that year if Fernandez had not been injured. But it was a tough spot to put a 22-year-old rookie in. It wasn’t Manny’s fault; it was a team collapse. I blame Madlock; it was a nasty slide.
Manny had a longer career than I remembered, playing 922 games over 11 seasons.
Happy birthday Manuel. I hope it is a good one.
It is also Yusei Kikuchi’s 33rd birthday.
Yusei is in the third year of a three-year, $36 million contract. The first year could have gone better.
The second one was much better, going 11-6 with a 3.86 ERA in 32 starts and a 1.8 bWAR.
This year has been a step up from that, with a 3.26 ERA in his first 14 starts and a 1.2 bWAR.
The Jays have a decision to make with Yusei. Trade him and give up on that hope of sneaking into a playoff spot. Or hold him and lose him to free agency (or sign him; he may have a soft spot for the team and pitching coach that helped him find his way).
Anyway, Happy Birthday Yusei. Let’s celebrate by getting a win for the Blue Jays and yourself. If you are a gambler, I’ve read that pitchers do well on birthdays. Not that I would suggest you risk your money on a study I read a few years ago.