Bill Lee was one of those rare ballplayers whose off-field persona overshadowed his significant on-field performance. His often outrageous statements, and bizarre actions marked him as an oddity, and ensured a lasting reputation in the buttoned-down baseball world. They also earned him the nickname “Spaceman”. However, Bill’s record speaks for itself, and places him alongside some of the best pitchers in Boston Red Sox history before he moved to the Montreal Expos.

Born into a renowned baseball family in California in 1946, Bill Lee’s baseball apprenticeship took place at the University of Southern California, where he helped the Trojans capture the 1968 College World Series. He graduated from USC with a BA in geography, a degree both appropriate, and useful in that he has become a roving ambassador for baseball throughout the world.

Bill’s debut with the Red Sox came in a relief appearance in 1969, and from early on Bill started feeding zingers to the press. Arriving in Boston, he stared wide-eyed at the famous Fenway Park Green Monster, and inquired, “Do they leave it there during the games?” Before too long Bill became the darling of the dailies, and reporters came to know that regardless of the on-field prospects of the Red Sox, this refreshing newcomer could provide them with lots of colourful copy. Bill rarely disappointed. He was always good for an original quote, not just a canned cliché. 

In 1970 Bill opened the season with the Red Sox, but the 1973 campaign was his breakout season. Bill got his first start on May 1, and never left the rotation. There were highs, and lows for Bill throughout his storied career with the Red Sox, during which time he enjoyed tweaking the powers that be, and crafting controversial quotes. Bill once bragged about sprinkling marijuana on his organic buckwheat pancakes so that when he jogged to the ballpark he would be “impervious to bus fumes.” In 1978 Bill was traded to the Montreal Expos, and reunited with Dick Williams, the no-nonsense manager under whom he had first played for Boston a decade earlier. The strike interrupted 1981 season was the only time the Expos ever got to the post season, before Bill left the majors in 1982. Since then Bill has won praise as an effective, if somewhat unorthodox, baseball ambassador in such places as Cuba, China, Russia, and Canada. 

Bill co-authored 2 autobiographical books with Dick Lally, The Wrong Stuff and Have Glove, Will Travel, and offered an alternative look at a mythical Red Sox history with Jim Prime in The Little Red (Sox) Book. He also teamed up with Prime to write Baseball Eccentrics. He is one of the few ballplayers to have earned feature articles in both Sports Illustrated and High Times magazines. He was the subject of a 2006 documentary by Brett Rapkin and Josh Dixon entitled Spaceman: A Baseball Odyssey, which details Lee’s adventures while playing baseball in Cuba, and also the subject of the feature film Spaceman starring Josh Duhamel. In 2016 Bill ran for Governor of Vermont. There’s never a dull moment with the Spaceman!

Hosting the conversation with Bill will be Richard Griffin, baseball columnist for the Toronto Star, and Director of Baseball Media for the Toronto Blue Jays. From 1970 to 1994, Richard was the Director of Public Relations for the Montreal Expos, and had a front-row seat, and occasionally had to “clarify” all that was Spaceman. You can be sure that there are some stories to be told!

Bill Lee is well known for his charitable activities. An Evening in Space was created as a fundraiser for the Sexual Assault Support Centre of Waterloo Region to assist in their work with victims of sexual assault and human trafficking, and public education. The Registry Theatre presentation is spearheaded by long time SASC supporter, and family lawyer David Morneau of Morneau Family Law Solutions, together with fellow law firms Cohen Highley, Stephanie Krug, Hal Mattson, and Ernie Putman, property developer Zehr Group, and Unifor Local 1106.

An Evening In Space: In Conversation with Bill Lee - Wednesday October 9, 7:30 pm

At The Registry Theatre  122 Frederick St. (at Weber St.) Kitchener

General Admission: $25 / VIP Pass: $75 ~ Tickets: 519-578-1570 - www.registrytheatre.com