Tag Archives: Fred Lewis

07 Apr

a page-turner … so far

Though the book is far from finished, Ole Miss is writing one of the best stories in college baseball. From unranked in preseason — and picked to finish 15th in the vaunted SEC — the Rebels are 24-7 and ranked seventh nationally again this week in Baseball America’s Top 25. The Rebels battled for a 5-4 win in 12 innings at Kentucky on Saturday to win their third straight SEC series. They’re 8-4 in the league. National champs three years ago, UM foundered through the ’23 and ’24 seasons. Coach Mike Bianco rebuilt the roster for 2025 and apparently has found pieces that fit. The Rebels are middle-of-the-pack in the league in hitting (ninth in average) and pitching (12th in ERA). But they’re winning, which is all that really matters. In that 12-inning victory at Kentucky, they took a lead in the 11th, then lost it. Undaunted, they got a clutch two-run homer from Luke Hill — a .353 hitter — in the final frame and an heroic save from Alex Canney, who has a 1.50 ERA. A big week looms. The Rebels visit longtime rival Memphis on Tuesday, host undermanned Alcorn State on Wednesday and then welcome No. 4 Tennessee to Swayze Field for a weekend series that could define the season. The Vols, defending national champs, are 28-4 and 9-3 and no doubt plenty angry after losing a series at Texas A&M in ugly fashion (17-6 in the finale). UM fans are no doubt eager to see how the next chapter of this season is penned. P.S. Whenever there’s a list, there’s usually a Mississippian on it. Since 2007, Barry Bonds’ last season, San Francisco has started a different left fielder on opening day every year — 18 all told. Fred Lewis, former Stone County High and Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College standout, is on the list. He was in left field on April 7, 2009, and he went 1-for-4 with a walk and two runs — plus an error — in a 10-6 win over Milwaukee at AT&T Park. In 2009, Lewis was in the fourth year of a seven-year MLB career in which he batted .266.

11 Sep

scanning the radar

Former major leaguers Bill Hall and Fred Lewis are plugging away in the independent Atlantic League, though neither is on a team enjoying much success. Nettleton’s Hall, 34, who played 11 years in the big leagues, is batting .258 with three home runs and 18 RBIs for Long Island, the defending league champ but a sub-.500 club in 2014. Lewis, 33, the ex-Stone County High and Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College star, is hitting .259 with six homers, 39 RBIs and 12 stolen bases this year. The 7-year MLB veteran began the season with Lancaster but is now with Bridgeport, the league’s worst team. … In Japan, Pascagoula’s Joey Butler, another ex-Gulf Coast CC standout, is playing sparingly in his first season with Orix, which stands second in the Pacific League with just a handful of games remaining. Butler, 28, who has 17 MLB at-bats on his ledger, is hitting .231 with two homers and six RBIs in 21 games for the Buffaloes.

21 Jul

independent thinking

Former big leaguer Bill Hall of Nettleton is back on the roster of the independent Long Island Ducks, the team he helped to an Atlantic League championship in 2013. Hall, 34, who can play the infield and outfield, was signed on Friday. He hit 16 homers and drove in 63 runs for the Ducks last year. Long Island is managed by former Jackson Mets shortstop Kevin Baez. … Also toiling in the Atlantic League is Stone County High and Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College product Fred Lewis. Former big leaguer Lewis, 33, who played in Japan in 2013, is batting .233 with three homers and 15 RBIs in 40 games as an outfielder for the Lancaster Barnstormers.

30 Apr

going independent

Fred Lewis is playing in the States again, currently with the Lancaster Barnstormers in the independent Atlantic League. Lewis, a Stone County High and Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College product, spent last year in Japan after a his six-year major league tour ended with the New York Mets in 2012. Lewis, 33, is career .266 hitter in MLB with 27 homers and 53 stolen bases. He had a good year in Japan but apparently found no interested parties among major league clubs. … Also with Lancaster is former Ole Miss star Bobby Kielty, another ex-big leaguer. Other Mississippians in the Atlantic League — the best of the indy loops — include Delta State product Edwin Maysonet and ex-UM pitcher Matt Maloney with Somerset, Gulf Coast CC alum Roy Corcoran with Sugar Land and former Rebels star Cody Overbeck with Bridgeport.