Sixto Lezcano                     Elected 1994

Right Fielder
Boston Federals (HAV, STL, DEN, LA)
1974-1991

When the Commish asked me to write up Sixto, I leapt at the chance. I mean, this is gonna be easy, right? We’re talking about one of the great power hitters in the league for a decade or more. The guy was a key player in some of the all-time great UL playoff rivalries, series and moments. Slam dunk! But turns out things are perhaps more complicated.

How do you evaluate a guy who was incredibly good in his own right, but never the best dude at his position? A guy who was agonizingly close to having a ring for every finger, but ultimately ended up with just one? That set me to thinking about famous second-fiddlers, guys who did amazing things but were always in the shadow of another. Buzz Aldrin. Aaron Burr, sir. Sheila E stuck behind the drum kit while Prince pranced about. Lew Burdette to Gene Conley. William Marshall, who brought Magna Carta into existence and was the hand of five (!) kings. Fritz Pete to Larry Dierker. Robin to Batman. Jaws II. Imagine being Sandy Amaros or Richie Ashburn playing CF in the era of Mantle and Mays!

With that context, I give you Sixto Lezcano, who was consistently the second-best player at his position throughout his roughly 16-year career. This dude went from a second-round pick in 1974 to playing eight seasons in right field for the Federales, many of them truly excellent, but also all in the shade of all-time great Dave Winfield. And then, in the 1980s, he put up strong seasons across stints in Havana, St. Louis and Denver, but was again overshadowed, this time by Tony Gwynn. In terms of power, he was absolutely electric, but here too his peak years coincided with the legendary UL power poker Tom Grieve.

Alluded to earlier, Sixto’s record of playoff heartbreak is also staggering. To wit, one of the great UL rivalries was the Lezcano-led Federals/Grey Sux of the late ‘70s. The 1977 playoff matchup was decided in the 10th inning of game seven on the infamous Ollie Brown/CRob double dong. The 1978 donnybrook saw Boston go 2-1 up, the loss coming on a patented Bruuuuuuuce Sutter choke job, before Manhattan ran the table to win the series 4-2. Replay another sob story in ’79, when the World Series went to seven games, only for the Pale Hoes to win the deciding game by a single run back of a three-run CRob diplodocus clout.

The pain doesn’t end there, however, as Sixto later reached the playoffs three consecutive years with the mid-80s Maroons. This stretch included another epic seven-game Semi Series loss to personal nemesis Manhattan, and a 1987 World Series defeat to Monuments on another bullpen meltdown, this by Mark Eichorn. But the loss of all losses has to be the 1985 capitulation to Outlaws, after being 3-1 up. Sixto’s lone ring came in the 1980 season, when Manhattan (!) failed to qualify for the postseason.

With respect to Sixto’s personal stats, Greive makes a good comp. At his retirement, Grieve ranked 7th in home runs, 16th in RBIs, and 25th in total bases. Across his career, Grieve slashed .267/.340/.531 for a .872 OPS and career total 50 WAR. By comparison, here is Sixto’s line: .283/.362/.538 for .900 OPS and 69.7 WAR. His career totals as of this writing rank 11th for dongs (just three taters short of Grieve), 12th for slugging, 13th for OPS, 20th for Ribs, 21st for total bases and 25th for WAR. He hit 1.000 OPS twice, and .900 OPS five other times. He had seasons of 9, 7 and 6 WAR, as well as three others each in the 5s, 4s and 3s.

What’s even more mind boggling is that he was actually quite injury prone, such that he played only 73 games in 1980, his age 25 season, and just 43 in 1982 at age 27. Then at age 29 and 30, he played just 123 and 100 games, respectively. That’s approximately 300 games or effectively two full seasons taken off the guy’s career totals at his absolute peak! I mean, he amassed some truly prodigious totals, but imagine adding another full season or two of peak Sixto to his tally. Fudge! 

To summarize, this guy was one of the league’s great players in the '70s and '80s, posting career totals that place him in very rarified air. Meanwhile, his rate stats also compare favorably with another mashing corner outfielder already resident in Beachville, Tom Grieve. While I think it’s clear that he’s not the very very best guy to play his position in that stretch, he was consistently excellent for a long time, and contributed to some of the great teams, playoffs and moments in UL history.

But I’d like to end on a slightly different note, one that I prized the guy for as his manager for so many of his best seasons. And that is his defensive work. Right away, you’re like, RF who cares?!?! But feast your eyes on these stats and think again about how he affected the game. This dude had a staggering 240 outfield assists, 213 of those from right. He had fully 30 (!) OF assists in 1977 and 20 three other times. His career assist rate works out to about an extra out each week of the season based on innings played in right. The effect of the guy’s gun on bagging extra outs and deterring extra bases is just one more way in which Sixto helped his teams succeed. (Glen Reed)