| Fred Lewis | |
|---|---|
| Free Agent – No. -- | |
| Outfielder | |
| Born: December 9, 1980 | |
| Bats: Left | Throws: Right |
| MLB debut | |
| September 1, 2006 for the San Francisco Giants | |
| Career statistics (through August 24, 2011) |
|
| Batting average | .269 |
| Hits | 412 |
| Home runs | 27 |
| Runs batted in | 136 |
| OBP | .346 |
| Stolen bases | 155 |
| Teams | |
| Career highlights and awards | |
|
|
Frederick Deshaun Lewis (born December 9, 1980 in Hattiesburg, Mississippi) is an American professional baseball outfielder who is a free agent. He made his debut on September 1, 2006, with the San Francisco Giants. He is the cousin of former major league outfielder Matt Lawton. Lewis also hit the 46th Splash Hit at AT&T Park. He lived in Chatham, New Jersey for a brief time before moving to Toronto.
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Lewis graduated from Stone High School in Wiggins, Mississippi in 1999, where he was a three sport star in basketball, football, and baseball. He went on to attend Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College, where he played both football and baseball.
After graduating in 2001, he was drafted in the 20th round (585th overall) by the Montreal Expos, but opted not to sign, instead attending Southern University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana to play baseball. While attending Southern University, Lewis flipped a truck he was driving on a rainy night, and three of the occupants in the car were killed.[1]
Lewis was drafted in the second round (66th overall), and was sent to the short season-A Salem-Keizer Volcanoes. While there, earned Northwest League All-Star honors, leading the league with a .322 batting average, while finishing 5th for both hits (77) and on-base percentage(.396). Lewis also was named co-Player of Month for July, along with Dan Ortmeier and Greg Bruso.
Lewis spent all of 2003 with the Hagerstown Suns, where he finished the season second in the Giants organization with 30 stolen bases. He also led the team with 61 runs scored, while ranking 3rd in games (114) and doubles(17). Lewis finished the season with a .250 batting average, but as a result of leading the team in walks with 68, wound up with a .361 on-base percentage.
Lewis starred on the Norwich Navigators in Norwich, Connecticut, where it was customary for fans to shout his name while he was at bat, on deck, running in from the field or anywhere else in view. Lewis would choose the loudest fans to join him in Fred Lewis' Pancake Breakfasts.
Lewis was a September call-up in 2006, making his debut on September 1 at Wrigley Field against the Chicago Cubs; he had a base hit in each of his first three at bats. Lewis finished the year 5-11 with 2 RBI.
Lewis made his first appearance on a major league 25-man roster on May 10, 2007, and hit for the cycle on May 13, Mother's Day, in only his 16th game in the majors at Colorado. Lewis doubled leading off the game, then hit a three-run opposite-field home run in the fourth inning (both against Taylor Buchholz), followed by an RBI triple in the fifth (against Tom Martin) and a single leading off the seventh inning (against Denny Bautista). Lewis' cycle was the 22nd in Giants franchise history. Lewis is one of only a handful of major league baseball players to hit his first homer as part of a cycle.
On June 1, Lewis hit his first MLB grand slam against the Philadelphia Phillies. About a month later, on July 4, Lewis hit another grand slam against the Cincinnati Reds, becoming the first player in San Francisco Giants history to hit two grand slams in his rookie season.[2]
Lewis led the majors in steals of home in 2008 with 2, but was also caught twice while attempting to steal home.[1]
On April 16, 2010, Lewis was traded to the Toronto Blue Jays.[3] Heading into the 2010 MLB All Star Game, Lewis has had a very successful stay with Toronto, batting 1st in the batting order on a regular basis with a .276 batting average. After the Blue Jays acquired Yunel Escobar from the Atlanta Braves and being inserted into the two-hole behind Lewis, Blue Jays broadcasters Buck Martinez and Pat Tabler said them being at the front of the batting order sparked a whole new dynamic to the Blue Jays lineup.
On December 3, 2010, the Blue Jays declined to tender a contract to Lewis prior to the non-tender deadline, thereby making him a free agent.[4] On January 10, 2011, it was announced that he signed with the Cincinnati Reds to a 1-year $900,000 deal.[5] He elected free agency on October 27.