Lee Walls

Raymond Lee Walls Jr.

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 3", Weight 205 lb.
• School Pasadena City College
• High School Pasadena (CA) High School
• Debut April 21, 1952
• Final Game October 4, 1964
• Born January 6, 1933 in San Diego, CA USA
• Died October 11, 1993 in Los Angeles, CA USA

BR page

Biographical Information

"Lee Walls is 25 years old, stands several inches over 6 feet and is lean and hard. He wears black horn-rimmed glasses, which make him look more like a science major than a home-run hitter." - from a Sports Illustrated article in 1958

A member of the Pittsburgh Pirates at the young age of 19, Lee Walls played ten years in the majors, most notably with the Chicago Cubs in 1958, for whom he hit 24 home runs with a .304 batting average. He was on the 1958 All-Star team. He still holds the Cubs' all-time record for home runs in the month of April, with 8 that season (tied with Sammy Sosa and Derrek Lee).

Walls said that he had heard Ted Williams say that working with weights was a good idea, so he worked with 30-pound bar bells in the 1957-58 off-season.

He was also a backup infielder/outfielder and pinch-hitter for the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1963, a year in which they won the pennant, but he did not appear in the 1963 World Series with them.

After his playing career ended, Walls was a coach for the Oakland Athletics and New York Yankees.

He had gone to high school in Pasadena, CA and had the opportunity to go to college on a football scholarship but chose baseball instead.

He played for the Hollywood Stars from 1953 to 1955. In 1955 he was a teammate of Bill Mazeroski there, and the two would become regulars with the Pirates in 1956.

During the 1955-56 off-season he worked as the maitre-d' in a restaurant in Palm Springs, CA.

One source: Sports Illustrated article from June 2, 1958.

Notable Achievements

• NL All-Star (1958)
• 20-Home Run Seasons: 1 (1958)
• Won a World Series with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1963 (he did not play in the World Series)