Derrick Lee

Derrek Lee is amazing. When the Cubs picked him up from Florida before the 2004 season, I was less than excited. I was confused.

The Cubs had sent away Hee Sop Choi, who was to be the heir to Mark Grace. The Cubs refused to give Grace the career ending contract he so desired because we needed to free up first base for Hee Sop Choi. Grace had the last laugh earning a World Series ring as a member of the Arizona Diamondbacks.

In 2004, Hendry sends Choi packing and brings over Derrek Lee. Lee had performed okay for the 2003 Series champion Florida Marlins, but was hardly considered the team leader. People like Ivan Rodriguez, Jeff Conine and Juan Pierre made that team swing. D-Lee hit just .208 in the series.

For the year, Lee hit just .271, but did have 31 home runs and 95 RBIs. Still, when you talked about the talent on the Marlins, there was more talk of Miguel Cabrera, Pierre and third baseman Mike Lowell. If Lee entered the conversation, it was as an afterthought.

Cubs General Manager Jim Hendry was smart. He knew this young man had potential he had not reached yet. Let the Marlins have Cabrera and Pierre; Hendry knew he had gold with Derrek Lee.

Less than two months after the Marlins won the Series in 2003, the Cubs sent Choi to Florida along with minor league pitcher Mike Nannini.

During the 2004 season, Lee improved marginally on his previous year, hitting one more home run, three more RBIs and a slightly better batting average.

Then in 2005 everything changed. D-Lee got off to a hot start in April and never looked back. He slammed a career high 46 homers and broke the 100 RBI mark for the first time since double-A ball. His strikeout total went down and his on-base percentage topped .400. Even though the northsiders had a poor year, Lee dragged the team along and gave fans reason to hope for a strong 2006.

During the off-season between 2005 and 2006, Hendry failed to land top free agent shortstop Rafael Furcal. This would turn out to be a disappointment for more reasons than one.

I was watching the Cubs play Dodgers in the early part of the 2006 season. Ronnie Cedeno’s throw was poor and Lee had to maneuver to catch it. Furcal rammed into Lee at full speed, injuring his wrist. It put an end to D-Lee’s season, an end to the Cubs hopes for the year, and eventually an end to the managerial term of Dusty Baker.

Fans worried whether Lee would be able to return to his 2005 form, once he recovered. After watching injuries to people like Mark Prior and Kerry Wood, you could understand the concern. So far, he has shown the fans he is back and ready to rumble.

Tonight he gathered two hits to raise his average to .392, good for second place in the league behind Colorado outfielder Matt Holiday. One of the two hits was his league leading fourteenth double of the year.

Some people are worried that he only has one home run this year. I would rather see the .392 average and .468 on-base percentage right now. The Cubs need baserunners. Lee is providing that. He leads the Cubs in runs scored and total bases. The home runs will come when the weather warms.

The good guys took it hard again tonight. They wasted another good pitching performance by Rich Hill. Lee did what he could, but it takes all nine guys to win ball games. Maybe tomorrow they will all show up in Pittsburgh. I know one guy who will be there and will be ready.