Richie Lewis
| Richie Lewis | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Relief pitcher | |||
|
Born: January 25, 1966 Muncie, Indiana | |||
| |||
| MLB debut | |||
| July 31, 1992, for the Baltimore Orioles | |||
| Last MLB appearance | |||
| June 4, 1998, for the Baltimore Orioles | |||
| MLB statistics | |||
| Win–loss record | 14–15 | ||
| Earned run average | 4.88 | ||
| Strikeouts | 244 | ||
| Teams | |||
Richie Todd Lewis (born January 25, 1966 in Muncie, Indiana) is a former right-handed relief pitcher in Major League Baseball who played from 1992 to 1998 for the Baltimore Orioles, Florida Marlins, Detroit Tigers, Oakland Athletics and Cincinnati Reds. He attended Southside High School in Muncie, where his father was the coach for many years. He then went on to attend Florida State University.
Originally drafted by the Montreal Expos 44th overall in the 1987 draft, Lewis spent a few years in the minors before making his big-league debut. He played only two games professionally in 1987, both in AAA ball. He would prove to be a very valuable minor league player over the next few seasons, both as a starter and reliever. For example, he posted a 2.58 ERA in 1989 as a starter, and in 1990 with the Jacksonville Expos he posted a 1.26 ERA as a reliever.
He made his major league debut on July 31, 1992 at the age of 26. Standing at the height of 5 ft 6 in (1.68 m), Lewis—who is one of the shortest players ever to pitch in the majors—pitched just over four innings in his debut (he started the game). He gave up five hits and walked six, but he still managed to earn the win.
Lewis was selected in the 51st round of the 1992 Expansion draft by the Florida Marlins.
He would mostly be used as a reliever for the rest of his career, with his best season being 1993. In 57 games, he posted a 3.26 ERA and 65 strikeouts. Overall, he went 14 and 15 in his career, with 191 walks, 244 strikeouts and a 4.88 ERA in 217 games. Although his major league career ended on June 4, 1998, he bounced around in the minors until 2003. He was the pitching coach for the Columbus Catfish in 2006.
A recurring glitch in the EA Sports Triple Play video game franchise caused Lewis to throw certain pitches between 111–120 miles per hour, making him one of the most dominant pitchers in all of the games in which the glitch occurred.
in 2016, Lewis was featured in an episode of Dr. Phil which dealt with his alcoholism.
Lewis currently resides in Melbourne, Florida with his family. He has two daughters and one son.
External links
- Career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference