Amusing guy, not a stereotypical brainless jock, and for a lefty to win 17 games 3 straight years in Fenway is no mean feat. A useful pitcher at his worst, a fine one at his best. I gotta repeat a funny thing I read in Gammons' excellent "Beyond the 6th Game" about Lee. During busing, Lee came out in favor of busing, prompting an angry letter he got from an angry, reactionary, loudmouth Archie Bunker type city councillor we had named Dapper O'Neill. In response to the obscenity laced tirade, Lee wrote something like, ( I'm paraphrasing) "Dear Councillor O'Neill. Someone has apparently broken into your office and stolen your stationary as I counted at least twelve spelling mistakes and know it couldn't be you." Priceless.

Gets points for being entertaining.

Before the brawl with Nettles when he sustained a career altering injury, he was very good, a critical part of a very strong era for the Sox.

Smart and canny and competitive, he was far more than the goofball the media liked to portray him as.