1906
Born September 13, 1906
Sonoma, CA, USA
Thornton Lee Marquee
b. September 13, 1906 · Cleveland Indians 1933–1936, Chicago White Sox 1937–1947, New York Giants 1948
In 1941 he went 22-11 with a 2.37 earned run average and 30 complete games, leading the league in earned run average and finishing fourth in the Most Valuable Player voting behind Joe DiMaggio, Ted Williams and Bob Feller. He was thirty-four and had never won more than 15.
Sixteen seasons gave him 117 wins against 124, a 3.56 earned run average, 2,331 innings and 155 complete games, eleven of the seasons with the White Sox. A shoulder injury the following spring cost him most of the next three years.
His son Don Lee pitched nine seasons, and the two of them are the only father and son to have each given up a home run to Ted Williams. No Hall of Fame ballot ever listed him. He died in 1997, at ninety.
Honors
| Award | Times | Years |
|---|---|---|
| All-Star selection | 2 | 1941, 1945 |
| Baseball Magazine All-Star | 1 | 1941 |
| The Sporting News All-Star | 1 | 1941 |
Batting, season by season
| Year | Team | G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | SB | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1933 | CLE | 3 | 8 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | .375 |
| 1934 | CLE | 24 | 21 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 11 | 0 | .095 |
| 1935 | CLE | 32 | 61 | 6 | 12 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 3 | 17 | 0 | .197 |
| 1936 | CLE | 43 | 41 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 12 | 0 | .122 |
| 1937 | CHW | 30 | 71 | 5 | 15 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 16 | 0 | .211 |
| 1938 | CHW | 34 | 97 | 14 | 25 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 16 | 0 | 23 | 0 | .258 |
| 1939 | CHW | 33 | 91 | 8 | 15 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 18 | 0 | .165 |
| 1940 | CHW | 28 | 84 | 7 | 23 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 4 | 30 | 0 | .274 |
| 1941 | CHW | 35 | 114 | 7 | 29 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 4 | 20 | 0 | .254 |
| 1942 | CHW | 11 | 30 | 0 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 10 | 0 | .200 |
| 1943 | CHW | 19 | 42 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 8 | 0 | .071 |
| 1944 | CHW | 15 | 42 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 8 | 0 | .095 |
| 1945 | CHW | 29 | 78 | 6 | 14 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 5 | 15 | 0 | .179 |
| 1946 | CHW | 7 | 15 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 0 | .267 |
| 1947 | CHW | 21 | 29 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 11 | 0 | .207 |
| 1948 | NYG | 11 | 11 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | .091 |
| Career | — | 375 | 835 | 63 | 167 | 24 | 4 | 4 | 66 | 27 | 208 | 0 | .200 |
Pitching, season by season
| Year | Team | W | L | G | GS | SV | IP | H | ER | BB | SO | ERA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1933 | CLE | 1 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 17.1 | 13 | 8 | 11 | 7 | 4.15 |
| 1934 | CLE | 1 | 1 | 24 | 6 | 0 | 85.2 | 105 | 48 | 44 | 41 | 5.04 |
| 1935 | CLE | 7 | 10 | 32 | 20 | 1 | 180.2 | 179 | 81 | 71 | 81 | 4.04 |
| 1936 | CLE | 3 | 5 | 43 | 8 | 3 | 127.0 | 138 | 69 | 67 | 49 | 4.89 |
| 1937 | CHW | 12 | 10 | 30 | 25 | 0 | 204.2 | 209 | 80 | 60 | 80 | 3.52 |
| 1938 | CHW | 13 | 12 | 33 | 30 | 1 | 245.1 | 252 | 95 | 94 | 77 | 3.49 |
| 1939 | CHW | 15 | 11 | 33 | 29 | 3 | 235.0 | 260 | 110 | 70 | 81 | 4.21 |
| 1940 | CHW | 12 | 13 | 28 | 27 | 0 | 228.0 | 223 | 88 | 56 | 87 | 3.47 |
| 1941 | CHW | 22 | 11 | 35 | 34 | 1 | 300.1 | 258 | 79 | 92 | 130 | 2.37 |
| 1942 | CHW | 2 | 6 | 11 | 8 | 0 | 76.0 | 82 | 28 | 31 | 25 | 3.32 |
| 1943 | CHW | 5 | 9 | 19 | 19 | 0 | 127.0 | 129 | 59 | 50 | 35 | 4.18 |
| 1944 | CHW | 3 | 9 | 15 | 14 | 0 | 113.1 | 105 | 38 | 25 | 39 | 3.02 |
| 1945 | CHW | 15 | 12 | 29 | 28 | 0 | 228.1 | 208 | 62 | 76 | 108 | 2.44 |
| 1946 | CHW | 2 | 4 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 43.1 | 39 | 17 | 23 | 23 | 3.53 |
| 1947 | CHW | 3 | 7 | 21 | 11 | 1 | 86.2 | 86 | 43 | 56 | 57 | 4.47 |
| 1948 | NYG | 1 | 3 | 11 | 4 | 0 | 32.2 | 41 | 16 | 12 | 17 | 4.41 |
| Career | — | 117 | 124 | 374 | 272 | 10 | 2331.1 | 2327 | 921 | 838 | 937 | 3.56 |
On this day & linked events
1997
Died June 9, 1997
1933
Major-league debut: Thornton Lee
Thornton Lee made a major-league debut on September 19, 1933.
1948
Final major-league game: Thornton Lee
Thornton Lee played a final major-league game on June 18, 1948.