Me, dad, and Sixto Lezcano

 When I think of Sixto Lezcano I think of my dad. My dad doesn't have an unbelievably cool name ending in vowels and he certainly wasn't born in Puerto Rico. Dad never signed as a free agent with the Brewers nor does he have the distinction of being traded for Rollie Fingers or Ozzie Smith.

If I told my dad how Sixto Lezcano reminds me of him, he'd likely cock his head and say, "What the hell are you talking about? Sixto who?"


Just shy of his 17th birthday Sixto Lezcano signed as a free agent with the Milwaukee Brewers, an organization with which he would spend the next 10 years of his career. Lezcano debuted with the Brewers in 1974 as a 20 year old and would later garner MVP votes as a 25 year old right fielder playing in Milwaukee. During the 1979 season, Sixto Lezcano compiled a slash line of .321/.414./.573 for an OPS of 987. He hit 28 HRs with 101 RBI for a WAR of 5.4. Those numbers along with Gold Glove defense in RF earned him 15th place in the MVP voting that season. He played 138 games in 1979, a total he would reach only once more in his career.

The Brewers shaped their World Series hopes of the future by trading Sixto Lezcano (with David Green, Dave LaPoint, and Lary Sorenson) to the Cardinals in 1980, a move that netted the Brewers, Rollie Fingers, Ted Simmons, and Pete Vukovich. The Brewers and Cardinals would face off in the 1982 World Series but by that time Lezcano would be a distant memory.

In the winter of 1981 the St. Louis Cardinals sent Sixto Lezcano, Garry Templeton, and a PTBNL for Steve Mura, Ozzie Smith, and a PTBNL. Lezcano would play 138 games for the Padres in 1982 hitting .289/.388/.472 with 16 HRs and 84 RBI good for a WAR of 5.6. By the end of 1982 however, Lezcano was seeing less time as the regular right fielder. A young Tony Gwynn began to establish himself in CF and LF and eventually transitioned to what would become his home for the next 20 seasons in RF.

Sixto Lezcano's stay in San Diego lasted until August 31st of 1983 when the Philadelphia Phillies acquired him for their stretch run to the playoffs*.  Sixto hit a HR in the NLCS against the Dodgers but didn't do too much in the World Series as the Phillies lost to the Baltimore Orioles in 5 games.

* The most notable name involved with the trade was that of 19 year old Lance McCullers who ultimately didn't do a hell of a lot in a Padre uniform.

Sixto Lezcano would eventually make his way to Pittsburgh in January of 1985. In his last 20 PAs as a Pirate in '85 he went 0 for 14 with 6 walks. Sixto Lezcano's career would come to an end on April 4th, 1986 when the Pittsburgh Pirates released him.

My dad never had the distinction of being released by the Pittsburgh Pirates. And if my dad is reading this he still has no idea why, in my eyes, he and Sixto Lezcano are inextricably linked.

Prior to moving to San Diego we lived in the cold weather clime of suburban Chicago. My dad, an electrician, would often be called out at late hours to perform work on traffic signals. Every once in a while my dad would wake up my brother or I and take us along for the ride. We would sit in the warmth of his truck as he ventured out to an intersection control box to assess the problems. When dad completed his work we began our journey home.

Before returning to our slumber we would always stop at 7-11, occasionally to get candy but mostly to buy football and baseball cards. Every kid who collected baseball cards can tell you when he or she started. I began in earnest in 1985 but it was during 1983 that I started to accumulate cardboard. It was the year I made trips to 7-11 with my dad during the late night hours and I came across this guy with a funny name playing in a far off place where it was always warm.

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Sixto Lezcano currently resides in Orlando Florida where he will charge you $10 for his autograph.
 
His cousin Carlos Lezcano managed the Lake Elsinore Storm, the High A affiliate for the Padres, beginning in 2007 before resigning in June of 2011.

I recently moved so my baseball cards are taking up space in a far off garage. I think I'll go looking for this card sometime in the near future.

This was compiled in good part from the most awesome site in the world: Baseball-Reference.com

This is my singular recollection of former Padre Sixto Lezcano, a player I never saw play. What's yours? Idea brought to you by @pubrelationprof