Time
to go ahead and give former pinch runner Allan Lewis a “not so missing”
1970 card, what I hope is the first of a few for the blog over the
coming months:
Before Herb Washington, before Larry Lintz, Lewis put in a six season
Major League career that saw him have more game appearances than
at-bats, usually in the pinch-running role between 1967 and 1973, all
with the Athletics organization.
In 1969, Lewis appeared in 12 games for Oakland, but getting only one
hitless plate appearance while scoring two runs without a stolen base.
It was the common thread for him over his career, as he would end up
with 156 games played in the Big Leagues while only collecting 31 plate
appearances and 29 “official” at-bats, picking up six hits for a .207
batting average while scoring 47 runs and stealing 44 bases.
In his final MLB season of 1973, he appeared in 35 games, all as a pinch
runner, scored 16 runs and stole seven bases, without a single plate
appearance.
In 1966 while with Leesburg of the Florida State League he set a Minor
League record with 116 stolen bases in 131 games, a record that stood
until Alan Wiggins stole 120 in 1980.
Over his entire professional career between 1961 and 1973, he would
steal 530 bases across all levels, with 486 of those in Minor League
play.