Spaceman wants to play first in independent game in Ottawa
Bill Lee, 71, would like to play first base for the independent Can-Am League's Ottawa Champions on Monday.
By Danny Gallagher
Canadian Baseball Network
After skipping stones with a grandson two years ago in Washington state, Bill Lee felt a twinge in his left-handed throwing arm. It hasn't been quite the same since.
The arm is getting better but he's not sure what he can offer if he pitches Sept. 3 for the Ottawa Champions in a Can-Am league game against New York's Rockland Boulders on Expos Day.
Lee will be in the starting lineup in Ottawa but where he plays will be up to manager Hal Lanier.
"Whether he pitches or not will be a game-time decision and very much up to Hal Lanier,'' said Colin Greer of Past Pros, an organization putting together this wonderful day along with Perry Giannias of Exposfest.
"I don't want to start,'' Lee told me about his possible status as a pitcher. "I'm not asking Hal Lanier for the ball. I don't expect the ball in my shoe. I can still get people out at the age of 71 but I'm not the pitcher I was at 69.''
Having said that, Lee has a preference where he plays in the game as he continues to make history. It's believed he's the oldest player to participate in a professional baseball game.
"I want to play first base,'' he said. "I won't hurt the team. I've got good hands. I'm a good glove fielder. I can still hit and I can run a bit.''
Just recently in the Vermont senior league, Lee had two hits in one game for the Burlington Cardinals so he can still be a contributor at the plate. Back in 1981 in his second-last season in the big leagues, he hit .364 for the Expos based on eight hits in 22 at-bats. He was a lifetime .208 hitter in the majors.
So just the thought of Lee on the field will put a lot of fannies in the seats at RCGT Park. He was officially signed to a Can-Am/Champions contract and placed on the Champions roster, effective Aug. 26. His salary, whatever it is, will count against the team's salary cap right up until the day he appears in the Sept. 3 game.
Initially, former Expos pitcher Oil Can Boyd was scheduled to be signed and made available as a pitcher for the Champions but that will not be the case. He will, however, be the first base coach.
"Correct,'' Greer confirmed. "The Champions couldn't fit him on the roster. We tried to get him on the Boulders roster but they couldn't fit him either.''
Lee, Boyd and fellow Expos alumni Dave Cash, Rondell White, Claude Raymond and Orlando Cabrera will have lunch with a select group of fans in a private box prior to the game between 11 a.m.-1 p.m. Then after the game, the players will participate in an autograph session on the field at RCGT Park.
Most of the proceeds from the day will go to the Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario in Ottawa and the Montreal Children's Hospital. Giannias has been raising money since 2015 in honour of his late niece Catherine Demes, who died as a child of a rare brain cancer.
To get into the act, Ottawa's Clocktower Brewing company is making a special beer to honour Lee. It's called The Wrong Stuff Hemp Ale. That's what it says on the front of the bottle, sandwiched around an image of Lee in a spaceman's suit. A buck from each ale sold on Labour Day weekend at Clocktower locations will be donated to CHEO.
Danny Gallagher will be attending Expos Day in Ottawa. You might see him wandering around on the field before the game. He will also be promoting his upcoming book Blue Monday. You will find him on the concourse level during the game, selling copies of Ecstasy to Agony, a book about the 1994 Expos he co-authored with Bill Young.