Richard Lewis (minors05)

Richard Hammond Lewis III

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 1", Weight 195 lb.
• School Georgia Institute of Technology
• High School Pope High School

• Born June 29, 1980 in Marietta, GA USA

BR minors page

Biographical Information

Second baseman Richard Lewis began his collegiate career in 1999, hitting .338 for Georgia Tech but with only 4 extra-base hits in 148 AB. As a sophomore, he saw Tech rise to #6 in the country (according to Baseball America) and he contributed a .398 mark (third in the Atlantic Coast Conference after Mark Teixeira and John-Ford Griffin), slugging .591 and making the All-Conference Team at second. In 2001, he batted .376 and slugged .605.

He was selected by the Atlanta Braves in the first round of the 2001 amateur draft with the 40th overall selection. He was signed by scout Rob English and made his pro debut that summer. Assigned to the Jamestown Jammers, Lewis hit .242/.298/.316 with 16 steals in 20 tries and led New York-Penn League second basemen in fielding (.975).

In 2002, Lewis hit .279/.359/.355 with 31 steals in 41 tries for the Myrtle Beach Pelicans. He led the Carolina League in fielding at 2B (.985) and was rated the #19 prospect in the league as per Baseball America. A year later, he had a .239/.305/.341 campaign for the Greenville Braves with 19 swipes in 28 tries and 101 strikeouts.

Before the 2004 season, he was traded along with Andy Pratt to the Chicago Cubs for Juan Cruz and Steve Smyth. That year, playing for the West Tenn Diamond Jaxx, he hit .329/.391/.532 with 10 homers and 59 RBIs and was named the Southern League MVP. His 10 triples were one behind league leader Dwaine Bacon and his .995 fielding again was the best at his position. He was second in the SL in average, though he only stole 7 in 13 tries as his speed seemed to be in decline. With the Iowa Cubs, he only hit 246/.280/.407 in 32 games then injured his leg late in the year.

In 2005, Lewis hit .246/.373/.333 for West Tenn and .217/.277/.300 in a disappointing run with Iowa in 87 games. He returned to the Diamond Jaxx for 2006 and hit .252/.316/.333 with 17 steals in 115 games.

He played in the Kansas City Royals system in 2007. That year, he hit .237/.287/.325 in 100 games between the Wichita Wranglers and Triple-A Omaha Royals. In 2008, he wrapped up his career with the Camden Riversharks of the independent Atlantic League, hitting .284/.337/.348 with 18 swipes in games.

Overall, Lewis hit .260/.324/.362 with 121 stolen bases in 861 games over eight seasons.

Sources: 2000-2006 Baseball Almanacs, Minorleaguebaseball.com, Thebaseballcube.com

Notable Achievements

• 2004 Player of the Year Southern League West Tenn Diamond Jaxx