| Joe Lefebvre | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Right fielder | |
| Born: (1956-02-22)February 22, 1956 (age 69) Concord, New Hampshire, U.S. | |
Batted: Left Threw: Right | |
| MLB debut | |
| May 22, 1980, for the New York Yankees | |
| Last MLB appearance | |
| May 13, 1986, for the Philadelphia Phillies | |
| MLB statistics | |
| Batting average | .258 |
| Home runs | 31 |
| Runs batted in | 130 |
Stats atBaseball Reference  | |
| Teams | |
Joseph Henry Lefebvre (/ləˈfeɪ/lə-FAY;[1] born February 22, 1956) is an American former professionalbaseball player and coach. He played all or parts of six seasons inMajor League Baseball with theNew York Yankees (1980),San Diego Padres (1981–83) andPhiladelphia Phillies (1983–84 and 1986), primarily as anoutfielder. He currently serves as senior advisor for scouting for theSan Francisco Giants.[2]
Lefebvre was born inConcord, New Hampshire, and attendedConcord High School andEckerd College ofSt. Petersburg,Florida, playing with future Giantsgeneral managerBrian Sabean at both schools.[3] In 1976 and 1977, he playedcollegiate summer baseball with theWareham Gatemen of theCape Cod Baseball League and was named a league all-star in 1976.[4][5]
Lefebvre was drafted by theNew York Yankees in the 3rd round of the1977 draft on the advice ofscoutAndy Michael. He began his professional career with theFort Lauderdale Yankees, and by the end of 1977 he had already been promoted to theDouble-AWest Haven Yankees. He continued to play for West Haven in 1978, batting .266 with 19 home runs while splitting time between the outfield andthird base.
Lefebvre returned to West Haven in 1979, where he had a breakout season. He led theEastern League champion Yankees in all threetriple crown categories, batting .292 with 21 home runs and 107 RBI.[6] In 1980, he was promoted to theTriple-AColumbus Clippers, and was called up to the majors in mid-May.
The Yankees had lost regularcenter fielderRuppert Jones to injury, and Lefebvre was summoned from the minor leagues to replace him.Right fielderBobby Brown was moved to center, and Lefebvre was installed in right. In his first major league game, he hit a home run offToronto Blue JayspitcherDave Stieb.
Lefebvre continued to start on and off for the next few weeks, playing both right andleft field, sharing time in the outfield withReggie Jackson andBobby Murcer. Although he hit well, batting .261 with 8 home runs in 38 games, he was returned to the minor leagues when Jones was activated. He returned in mid-August, but was used mostly as a defensive replacement down the stretch for theAmerican League East champions. His only appearance in theALCS was in the 9th inning of game 3, when he went out to left field to replaceLou Piniella, who had beenpinch-hit for byJim Spencer.[7]
Lefebvre looked to have a good chance at breaking camp with the Yankees in 1981, but with just a few days left inspring training he was dealt to the San Diego Padres along with Ruppert Jones and two pitchers forJohn Pacella andJerry Mumphrey, who was tabbed as the Yankees' new starting center fielder. Lefebvre wound up being the Padres' starting right fielder. Although he often sat against left-handed pitchers in favor ofDave Edwards, Lefebvre played in 86 games, batting .256 with 8 home runs and 31 RBI.
Prior to the 1982 season, the Padres tradedshortstopOzzie Smith and pitcherSteve Mura to theSt. Louis Cardinals for shortstopGarry Templeton and outfielderSixto Lezcano. The acquisition of Lezcano, who would be the Padres' regular right fielder, meant Lefebvre would be relegated to backup duty. He did not take well to the role, as he batted just .157 in 47 games through mid-July, and he was briefly sent back to the minor leagues. He batted .344 in eight games, and was quickly back in the majors. He spent most of September as the Padres' starting third baseman, but he still wound up having what turned out to be his worst year, batting just .238 with 4 home runs in 102 games.
1983 started much the same for Lefebvre, backing up the outfield of Jones, Lezcano, andGene Richards. During the first few weeks of the season, he was used mostly as either a pinch hitter and defensive replacement, starting just two of the team's first 38 games.[8]
Lefebvre was traded from thePadres to thePhiladelphia Phillies forSid Monge on May 22, 1983.[9] The Phillies used him as something of a super-sub after his acquisition, as he started a number of games in both corner outfield positions and at third base, backing upGary Matthews,Von Hayes, andMike Schmidt. In August, he supplanted Hayes as the starting right fielder, and he finished with his best season statistically, batting .306 with a career-high 39 RBI along with 8 home runs, as the Phillies won theNational League East.
Against theLos Angeles Dodgers in the1983 National League Championship Series, however, he found himself on the bench behind Lezcano, who had been acquired from the Padres on August 31. The Phillies faced left-handed starters,Jerry Reuss andFernando Valenzuela, in three of the four games, and Lefebvre wound up batting just three times in the series, driving in one run with asacrifice fly. A similar situation developed in theWorld Series, as theBaltimore Orioles sent southpawsScott McGregor andMike Flanagan to the mound in three of the five games. Lefebvre started twice, delivering an RBIdouble in Game 4, as the Phillies lost in five games.
Lefebvre began the 1984 season as part of a right fieldplatoon with Lezcano, getting the lion's share of the playing time as a left-handed hitter. He was batting .250 on June 17 when he tore up his knee in a game against theChicago Cubs while attempting to get aGary Woods flyball.[10] After playing briefly for theReading Phillies later in the year, he missed the entire 1985 season, then played just 14 games for the Phillies in 1986. He retired on May 28, 1986.[10]
In 6 seasons he played in 447 games and had 1,091 at bats, 139 runs, 281 hits, 52 doubles, 13 triples, 31 home runs, 130 RBI, 11 stolen bases, 139 walks, .258 batting average, .344 on-base percentage, .414 slugging percentage, 452 total bases, 8 sacrifice hits, 7 sacrifice flies and 22 intentional walks.
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In 1987, Lefebvre was given a coaching job in the Phillies' organization. He remained with the Phillies for three seasons, then in 1990 he was brought to the Yankees by old friend Sabean, who was working as the team's scouting director. He stayed with the Yankees organization from 1990 to 1995, where he served as both coach and roving hitting instructor.
By 1993, Sabean had moved on to the Giants, and in 1996 Lefebvre joined him in their organization, where he was hired as hitting coach for thePhoenix Firebirds. From 1997 to 2001, he served as the team's minor league hitting coordinator, and in 2002 he joined the Giants' major league staff as their first base coach under managerDusty Baker.[11] In 2003, he was named the hitting coach underFelipe Alou.[11] In November 2007, he moved into the Giants front office as a senior advisor for player personnel.[12] He was named to his current position of senior scouting advisor in 2011. On August 20, 2011, it was announced that Lefebvre would additionally serve as assistant to current Giants hitting coachHensley Meulens.[13] In 2015, Lefebvre stepped down as hitting coach and returned to his previous role of senior advisor for scouting.[14]
· Baseball Almanac