Yankees Minor leagues Lefebvre was drafted by the
New York Yankees in the 3rd round of the
1977 draft on the advice of
scout Andy Michael. He began his professional career with the
Fort Lauderdale Yankees, and by the end of 1977 he had already been promoted to the
Double-A West Haven Yankees. He continued to play for West Haven in 1978, batting .266 with 19 home runs while splitting time between the outfield and
third base. Lefebvre returned to West Haven in 1979, where he had a breakout season. He led the
Eastern League champion Yankees in all three
triple crown categories, batting .292 with 21 home runs and 107 RBI. In 1980, he was promoted to the
Triple-A Columbus Clippers, and was called up to the majors in mid-May.
1980: Major league debut The Yankees had lost regular
center fielder Ruppert Jones to injury, and Lefebvre was summoned from the minor leagues to replace him.
Right fielder Bobby Brown was moved to center, and Lefebvre was installed in right. In his first major league game, he hit a home run off
Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Dave Stieb. Lefebvre continued to start on and off for the next few weeks, playing both right and
left field, sharing time in the outfield with
Reggie Jackson and
Bobby Murcer. Although he hit well, batting .261 with 8 home runs in 38 games, he was returned to the minor leagues when Jones was activated. He returned in mid-August, but was used mostly as a defensive replacement down the stretch for the
American League East champions. His only appearance in the
ALCS was in the 9th inning of game 3, when he went out to left field to replace
Lou Piniella, who had been
pinch-hit for by
Jim Spencer.
Padres Lefebvre looked to have a good chance at breaking camp with the Yankees in 1981, but with just a few days left in
spring training he was dealt to the San Diego Padres along with Ruppert Jones and two pitchers for
John Pacella and
Jerry Mumphrey, who was tabbed as the Yankees' new starting center fielder. Lefebvre wound up being the Padres' starting right fielder. Although he often sat against left-handed pitchers in favor of
Dave Edwards, Lefebvre played in 86 games, batting .256 with 8 home runs and 31 RBI. Prior to the 1982 season, the Padres traded
shortstop Ozzie Smith and pitcher
Steve Mura to the
St. Louis Cardinals for shortstop
Garry Templeton and outfielder
Sixto Lezcano. The acquisition of Lezcano, who would be the Padres' regular right fielder, meant Lefebvre would be relegated to backup duty. He did not take well to the role, as he batted just .157 in 47 games through mid-July, and he was briefly sent back to the minor leagues. He batted .344 in eight games, and was quickly back in the majors. He spent most of September as the Padres' starting third baseman, but he still wound up having what turned out to be his worst year, batting just .238 with 4 home runs in 102 games. 1983 started much the same for Lefebvre, backing up the outfield of Jones, Lezcano, and
Gene Richards. During the first few weeks of the season, he was used mostly as either a pinch hitter and defensive replacement, starting just two of the team's first 38 games.
Phillies Lefebvre was traded from the
Padres to the
Philadelphia Phillies for
Sid Monge on May 22, 1983. The Phillies used him as something of a super-sub after his acquisition, as he started a number of games in both corner outfield positions and at third base, backing up
Gary Matthews,
Von Hayes, and
Mike Schmidt. In August, he supplanted Hayes as the starting right fielder, and he finished with his best season statistically, batting .306 with a career-high 39 RBI along with 8 home runs, as the Phillies won the
National League East. Against the
Los Angeles Dodgers in the
1983 National League Championship Series, however, he found himself on the bench behind Lezcano, who had been acquired from the Padres on August 31. The Phillies faced left-handed starters,
Jerry Reuss and
Fernando Valenzuela, in three of the four games, and Lefebvre wound up batting just three times in the series, driving in one run with a
sacrifice fly. A similar situation developed in the
World Series, as the
Baltimore Orioles sent southpaws
Scott McGregor and
Mike Flanagan to the mound in three of the five games. Lefebvre started twice, delivering an RBI
double in Game 4, as the Phillies lost in five games. Lefebvre began the 1984 season as part of a right field
platoon with Lezcano, getting the lion's share of the playing time as a left-handed hitter. He was batting .250 on June 17 when he tore up his knee in a game against the
Chicago Cubs while attempting to get a
Gary Woods flyball. After playing briefly for the
Reading Phillies later in the year, he missed the entire 1985 season, then played just 14 games for the Phillies in 1986. He retired on May 28, 1986.
Career overview In 6 seasons he played in 447 games and had 1,091 at bats, 139 runs, 281 hits, 52 doubles, 13 triples, 31 home runs, 130 RBI, 11 stolen bases, 139 walks, .258 batting average, .344 on-base percentage, .414 slugging percentage, 452 total bases, 8 sacrifice hits, 7 sacrifice flies and 22 intentional walks. in 2005 == Post-playing career ==