page_title: Ron LeFlore
section_title: Playing career
hierarchical_section_title: Ron LeFlore / Playing career
caption_attribution_description: English: photo by Einar Einarsson Kvaran aka Carptrash 00:41, 24 December 2006 (UTC). Ron LeFlore in Tiger Stadium, 1977
context_page_description: Ronald LeFlore is an American former Major League Baseball center fielder. He played six seasons with the Detroit Tigers before being traded to the Montreal Expos. He retired with the Chicago White Sox in 1982. He stole 455 bases in his career and was an American League All-Star selection in 1976.
  A movie and book were made about his rise to the major leagues after being an inmate at the Jackson State Penitentiary. One in a Million: The Ron LeFlore Story was a made-for-television movie starring LeVar Burton that aired on CBS in 1978. LeFlore is the cousin of former MLB outfielder Todd Steverson.
context_section_description: LeFlore split time in center field in 1974 with veteran Tiger Mickey Stanley before taking over as the starter in 1975. Largely known as a base stealer, in his prime he also hit for average and moderate power. He, along with Mark Fidrych, were the primary reasons that the Tigers' attendance rose in 1976 by close to 5,000 per game over the previous year. Both players made the 1976 American League All-Star team, yet the team never finished higher than fourth in the American League East standings during LeFlore's tenure.  In 1977, he hit 16 home runs and batted .325 – both career highs. But 1978 may have been his career year, when he led the league in singles (153), runs scored (126) and stolen bases (68), and finished second in hits (198), plate appearances (741) and at bats (666). He also set career highs in games played, plate appearances, at bats, RBIs, and walks.
  After the 1979 season, in which he hit .300 and stole 78 bases, LeFlore was traded to the Montreal Expos for Dan Schatzeder on December  7. In 1980, he came closest to playoff action as he stole a career-high 97 bases (becoming the first player to lead both leagues in steals in his career) to help the Expos finish the season in second place, only a game behind the eventual World Series champion Philadelphia Phillies.
  In 1981 he signed with the Chicago White Sox as a free agent, but he played in only a combined 173 games in his two years there. After failing to make the Chisox roster in the spring of 1983, he was released by the team on April 2 and he announced his retirement. Soon afterward, he revealed that he was actually four years older than he had previously admitted, possibly giving some explanation for his rapid decline with the White Sox.
  As of the end of the 2011 season, LeFlore's 1976, 1978 and 1979 seasons were 10th, 6th and 3rd respectively on the Tigers' all-time single-season stolen base list and his 294 steals are 4th on the Tigers' career list. His 97 stolen bases for the Expos in 1980 are still a record for the Expos/Washington Nationals franchise. He also finished in the top ten in his league in triples, finishing as high as 3rd in 1980 with 11. Despite his speed and in contrast to his above-average hitting, he was never adept in the field. In his career, he finished in the top five outfielders in errors every year except 1979, leading the league in outfield errors in 1974, 1976, 1980 and 1982 (despite playing in only 91 games in '82). His worst moment in the field was when he misplayed a ball into a four-base error. Notoriously, on August 1, 1982 in a game against the Boston Red Sox, LeFlore was in center field when in the 6th inning Boston leadoff hitter, catcher Gary Allenson, hit a soft liner off Sox starter Jerry Koosman. As he drifted back for the catch, the ball struck him on the forehead near the bill of his cap, took a wild bounce and rolled away. By the time anyone got to it, Allenson had crossed the plate with an unearned run. LeFlore also struck out frequently, finishing in the top ten in his league in strikeouts five times (and second in the American League in 1975 with 139).
caption: LeFlore playing in the outfield of Tiger Stadium, 1977
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