Rookie of the Year: Jim Lefebvre, 1965

Second Baseman, Los Angeles Dodgers

 

Age:  23

Bats – Both, Throws – Right

Height: 6’0”    Weight: 180 

Prior to 1965:

A native of Inglewood, California, Lefebvre (pronounced Leh-FEE-ver) was the son of an American Legion and college baseball coach and hitting instructor. Encouraged by his father to switch-hit, he starred at Morningside High School and was signed by the Dodgers for $11,000 in 1962. Nicknamed “Frenchy”, he was first assigned to the Reno Silver Sox of the Class C California League where he batted .327 with 33 doubles, 39 home runs, and 130 RBIs. He was also named by The Sporting News as second baseman on the Class C Minor League All-Star team. Advancing to Salem of the Class A Northwest League in 1963, Lefebvre hit .283 with 29 doubles, 9 triples, 17 home runs, and 92 RBIs. A military commitment caused Lefebvre to miss spring training in 1964, which he spent with Spokane of the Class AAA Pacific Coast League, where he batted .265 in 55 games. Further play in the Arizona Instructional League earned him praise for his defensive play at second base as well as his hitting. A non-roster invitee to Dodger spring training in 1965, Lefebvre expected to spend another year at Spokane but played himself onto the club where he was named the starting second baseman as part of an unprecedented all-switch-hitting infield along with 1B Wes Parker, SS Maury Wills, and 3B Jim Gilliam.

1965 Season Summary

Appeared in 157 games

2B – 156, PH – 2

[Bracketed numbers indicate NL rank in Top 20]

Batting

Plate Appearances – 631

At Bats – 544

Runs – 57

Hits – 136

Doubles – 21

Triples – 4

Home Runs – 12

RBI – 69

Bases on Balls – 71 [11]

Int. BB – 7

Strikeouts – 92

Stolen Bases – 3

Caught Stealing – 5

Average - .250

OBP - .337

Slugging Pct. - .369

Total Bases – 201

GDP – 8

Hit by Pitches – 2

Sac Hits – 10 [9, tied with Don Cardwell]

Sac Flies – 4

 

Midseason snapshot: 2B – 14, HR - 5, RBI - 30, AVG. - .226, OBP – .310

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Most hits, game – 3 on seven occasions

Longest hitting streak – 7 games

Most HR, game – 1 on twelve occasions

HR at home – 3

HR on road – 9

Multi-HR games – 0

Most RBIs, game – 4 at Cincinnati 7/7, at Pittsburgh 9/2

Pinch-hitting – 1 for 2 (.500) with 1 R & 1 RBI

Fielding

Chances – 802

Put Outs – 349

Assists – 429

Errors – 24

DP - 91

Pct. - .970

Postseason Batting: 3 G (World Series vs. Minnesota)

PA – 10, AB – 10, R – 2, H – 4, 2B – 0,3B – 0, HR – 0, RBI – 0, BB – 0, IBB – 0, SO – 0, SB – 0, CS – 0, AVG - .400, OBP - .400, SLG - .400, TB – 4, GDP – 0, HBP – 0, SH – 0, SF – 0

Awards & Honors:

NL Rookie of the Year: BBWAA

21^st in NL MVP voting, tied with Leo Cardenas, Cin. & Jim Maloney, Cin. (7 points, 3% share)

NL ROY Voting:

Jim Lefebvre, LAD.: 14 of 21 votes, 65% share

Joe Morgan, Hou.: 4 votes, 20% share

Frank Linzy, SF: 3 votes, 15% share

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Dodgers went 97-65 to win the NL pennant by 2 games over the San Francisco Giants while leading the league in stolen bases (172). The light-hitting Dodgers benefited from pitching, speed, and defense to keep pace in a torrid pennant race with the Giants, countering a 14-game San Francisco winning streak in September with a 13-game streak of their own to nail down the pennant. Won World Series over the Minnesota Twins, 4 games to 3, rebounding after losing the first two games thanks to LHP Claude Osteen’s Game 3 shutout and, except for a Game 6 win by Minnesota RHP Jim “Mudcat” Grant, LHP Sandy Koufax and RHP Don Drysdale shut the Twins down the rest of the way. A heel injury knocked Lefebvre out of the Series in Game 3.

Aftermath of ‘65:

Receiving a salary boost to $15,000 for 1966, the hard-working Lefebvre was tried out at third base in the spring but returned to regular play at second base during the season, although he saw considerable action at third as well. He batted a team-leading .274 and further topped the Dodgers with 24 home runs and 74 RBIs. LA again held off the Giants to win the pennant and Lefebvre was an All-Star for the only time. The Dodgers sank to eighth in 1967 and Lefebvre, hindered by nagging injuries, hit .261 with 8 home runs and 50 RBIs while playing more regularly at third base than at second and making a few appearances at first base while manager Walt Alston juggled the lineup. Off the field, he made some minor television acting appearances. Typically appearing at second base in 1968 Lefebvre encountered more injury problems while being limited to 84 games and batting .241. An ankle injury suffered early during the 1969 season caused Lefebvre to lose playing time at second base to eventual Rookie of the Year Ted Sizemore and at third base to another promising rookie, Bill Sudakis. Poor early hitting doomed him to a .236 average for the year along with 15 doubles, 4 home runs, and 44 RBIs. Trade bait during 1970 spring training, he stayed with LA and saw substantial action at second base when Sizemore was injured as well as at third. He hit .252 in 109 games with identical totals for doubles, home runs, and RBIs as he had generated in ’69. Following an arm injury in 1971 Lefebvre returned to being the regular second baseman and batted .245 with 12 home runs and 68 RBIs. A dreadful year in 1972 in which he hit just .201 in 70 games led to Lefebvre’s release by the Dodgers and he played for the Lotte Orions in Japan where he primarily appeared at first base and batted .265 in 1973 with 29 home runs and 63 RBIs. With Lotte in 1974 he hit .283 with 14 home runs and 52 RBIs and became the first player to play for a World Series-and Japan Series-winner when the Orions defeated the Chunichi Dragons. He spent two more years as a player in Japan with less success before retiring. For his major league career, spent entirely with the Dodgers, Lefebvre batted .251 with 756 hits that included 126 doubles, 18 triples, and 74 home runs. He scored 313 runs and compiled 404 RBIs along with a .323 OBP. Appearing in seven World Series games he hit .273 with a home run and one RBI. Following his playing career, he became a scout, coach, and minor league manager in the Dodger system before being fired by his one-time friend Tommy Lasorda following the 1979 season, which led to an altercation between the two at a television studio. Lefebvre later became manager of the Seattle Mariners, Chicago Cubs, and Milwaukee Brewers between 1989 and ’99, with an overall record of 417-442. His last job in baseball was as hitting coach for the San Diego Padres.

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Rookie of the Year Profiles feature players who were recipients of the Rookie of the Year Award by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America (1947 to present). The award was presented to a single major league winner from its inception through 1948 and from 1949 on to one recipient from each major league.