Stretch Lee remembers traveling to Taylor and Fuller Parks to watch his older brother play 16″ softball. Little did he realize at the time that he would someday grow into one of the most feared long ball hitters of his era. Stretch’s softball career began in 1982 in local parks with Magnum’s. At eighteen he was asked to play for Safari, one of the top teams of the time. Stretch Lee especially remembers 1984 and ‘85 when Safari finished second to eventual national champs, Touch and Whips in Iowa. Like many long ball hitters, many of his times at bat resulted in an intentional walk. Pitchers could not, however, walk him each time. When they did pitch to him, he exploited the short fences by hitting twenty home runs during the two national tournaments. With a lifetime batting average of approximately .375, Stretch Lee remembers averaging fifty to sixty homers a season. Besides being a feared hitter, Stretch was also one of the top first basemen in the game. He and his pitcher, Larry Mc Ghee, created a pickoff play that embarrassed more than one unsuspecting base runner. Stretch Lee retired from the game in 1997 after a sixteen-year career. Stretch credits much of his success to his recently deceased manager, Claude Rhodes.
