Anthony Lewis (baseball)
Anthony Lamar Lewis (born February 2, 1971) is a former professional baseball player who hit over 200 homers in the minor leagues. Though he reached Triple-A on multiple occasions, he never played in the major leagues. He won a Triple Crown in 2000.
Lewis was born in Las Vegas, Nevada and attended Rancho High School. He was drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals in the eighth round of the 1989 Major League Baseball draft, a few picks ahead of pitcher Curtis Leskanic.
In 51 games with the AZL Cardinals in 1989, he slashed .246/.282/.332 with two homers, 27 runs batted in and 11 stolen bases. The following year, he slashed .254/.291/.370 with eight homers, 49 runs batted in and 10 stolen bases in 128 games for the Single-A Savannah Cardinals. In 1991, he hit .230/.311/.343 with six home runs and 43 RBI for the St. Petersburg Cardinals. He was also with St. Petersburg in 1992 and hit .222/.299/.370 with 15 home runs and 55 RBI in 128 games. With the Arkansas Travelers in 1993, he batted .264/.314/.482 with 13 home runs and 50 RBI in 112 games and in 1994, between Arkansas and the Triple-A Louisville Redbirds, Lewis hit .230/.276/.408 with 17 home runs and 56 RBI. In his first taste of Triple-A, he batted .122/.122/.149 in 21 games. Back with Arkansas for 1995, batted .251/.326/.494 with 24 home runs and 85 RBI in 115 games. He joined the Minnesota Twins organization in 1996, hitting .253/.320/.452 with 24 home runs and 95 RBI in 134 games for the Hardware City Rock Cats. In 1997, he was in the Colorado Rockies system, hitting .228/.279/.497 with 12 home runs and 36 RBI in 51 games. His slugging percentage of .497 was the highest in his career through 1997. He also spent time in the Mexican League in 1997, playing for the Saltillo Saraperos. Lewis spent most of 1998 in the independent ranks, but he also played briefly for the Wichita Wranglers in the Kansas City Royals system, hitting .252/.344/.439 with 12 dingers and 53 RBI. Back with Duluth in 1999, Lewis batted .296/.354/.540 with 19 home runs and 64 RBI in 83 games, tying for the Northern League lead in intentional walks with five.
In 2000, Lewis had perhaps the best season in Northern League history.[1] In 86 games for Duluth-Superior, he hit .365/.444/.777 with 33 home runs, 89 RBI, 88 runs and 34 doubles – all of which he led the league in. He also led the league in OPS (1.222) and total bases (262) and tied for the lead in games played and intentional walks (12), while adding 19 stolen bases and 46 walks, the latter of which was fifth in the loop. He was a league All-Star, won the Triple Crown and was named Independent League Player of the Year by Baseball America. In 2001, he batted .248/.297/.512 with 22 home runs and 90 RBI in another All-Star campaign for the St. George Pioneerzz. He briefly played for Dos Laredos Tecolotes that year as well.
He signed a contract with the Chicago White Sox prior to the 2001 campaign, but failed to report to camp.[2]
In total, Lewis batted .255 in 1,285 games in his career, hitting 207 home runs and driving in 795 RBI. This total does not include statistics from his say in Mexico in 1997.