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Pitcher, Boston Red Sox 1969-1979, Montreal Expos 1980-82. Author of the autobiographical The Wrong Stuff, and The Little Red (Sox) Book of Baseball: A Revisionist Red Sox History. Bill "Spaceman" Lee was a rarity among high-profile professional athletes- an open proponent of and polemicist on such issues as drug use, environmental conservation, and criticizing U.S. foreign policy. In The Wrong Stuff, Lee often claims that the Red Sox lost pennants because his politically conservative managers (Don Zimmer, Darrell Johnson) refused to pitch him in crucial situations due to his liberal and oft times controversial (hence the moniker "spaceman") views.
Perhaps his two most notable baseball moments were starting Game 7 of the memorable 1975 World Series against Cincinnatti's Big Red Machine, in which he gave up the decisive home run to Tony Perez on his famously slow "eephus" curveball, and the brawl with the New York Yankees in May of 1976, wherein he sufferred a dislocated left (pitching) shoulder via a (as Lee describes it) "body slam" at the hands of Yankees third baseman Craig Nettles.
