Wednesday, June 18, 1997

Interesting facts about the Rangers' Lee Stevens

By Al Pickett / Abilene Reporter-News

Here are two things you probably didn't know about Lee Stevens.

Neither interesting fact appears in the Texas Rangers media guide's biographical listing for the first baseman/outfielder. But Stevens confirmed the accuracy of the answers to both of my questions in a recent interview.

One, Stevens was a teammate of NBA star Danny Manning on his high school basketball team. And two, Stevens was one day away from becoming a member of the Abilene Prairie Dogs last spring.

Instead of playing in Abilene, however, Stevens has become a key figure for the Rangers, currently batting .275 with eight home runs as the team's designated hitter and reserve first baseman and outfielder.

First, the Danny Manning story. Stevens was a sophomore on the high school basketball team in his hometown of Lawrence, Kan., when Manning moved in for his senior year. Manning's father Ed had been hired as an assistant to new University of Kansas basketball coach Larry Brown.

"Yeah, that helps when you get a blue-chipper move in," Stevens said. "That was fun with the crowds we drew that year."

Manning led the Lawrence Lions to a runner-up finish in the Class 6A state tournament that year in Kansas.

Four years later, Manning led the Kansas Jayhawks to the NCAA championship and then went on to a pro career with the Los Angeles Clippers and Phoenix Suns.

Stevens, on the other hand, turned pro just two years after that 1984 basketball season with Manning, signing a baseball contract right out of high school after being a first-round draft choice of the California Angels.

He quickly rose through the Angels' minor league ranks, including the 1988 season in Midland, reaching Anaheim in 1990. Stevens spent all or part of the '90, '91 and '92 seasons with the Angels before being traded to the Montreal Expos. He spent the '93 season at Syracuse, the Expos' Triple A affiliate.

Stevens then played both the 1994 and '95 seasons with the Kintetsu Buffaloes in the Japanese League.

Following the '95 season, however, Stevens left Japan. He was released after a brief spring training stint with the Cincinnati Reds, leaving him without a team for the 1996 season.

That's when Stevens' neighbor offered him a job. Stevens lives in his wife's hometown of Wichita, Kan., just down the street from Phil Stephenson, who managed the Abilene Prairie Dogs last year.

"Phil and I worked out together at Wichita State and played pickup basketball games together," Stevens said. "He knew my situation, and he told me if things don't work out he would have a job for me in Abilene.

"I just wanted to play. I just wanted more more more shot, whether it was Double A, Triple A or Abilene. In my two years in Japan, I made some money, so I didn't have to worry about it for a year."

On the day before the Triple A season was scheduled to begin, however, the Rangers signed Stevens and sent him to Oklahoma City, where he batted .325 with 32 home runs and was named the American Association's MVP.

He was called up to Arlington in September and then earned a spot on the Rangers' roster this season.

And now, the rest is history.

"I hope the rest is history," Stevens said. "But it is an interesting twist of fate. I was one day from playing for Phil in Abilene or one day from getting on with the rest of my life."

Instead, he's playing major league baseball for the Texas Rangers.