Lewis (baseball)

Lewis (first name unknown; 1890) was an American professional baseball player who, in his sole career game, achieved the worst WHIP pitching statistic in the history of the short-lived Players' League (PL) of the 19th century. The game in question occurred on July 12, 1890, when Lewis played with the Buffalo Bisons. After asking the Bisons manager for a tryout and pitching three innings, his earned run average (ERA) of 60.00 and WHIP (walks plus hits per inning pitched) rate of 6.667 became the highest in the history of the PL. Lewis's first name, date of birth, date of death, as well as batting and pitching stance were not recorded.
On July 11, 1890, the Bisons' record stood at 17 wins and 42 losses, a poor performance that was attributed to the team's weak pitching. The following day, the Bisons played against the Brooklyn Ward's Wonders in Brooklyn. Lewis, a "local boy" born in Brooklyn, New York, who stated he was a pitcher, asked Bisons player-manager Jack Rowe for a tryout. Rowe agreed; Lewis was the starting pitcher for the game. In the three innings he pitched, Lewis allowed twenty earned runs for an earned run average (ERA) of 60.00 before he moved to left field, where he played for the remainder of the game. The Bisons lost 28-16; the total of 44 runs set a record for most runs scored in an MLB game that stood until 1922. In the third inning Lewis allowed two home runs to Lou Bierbauer, only the second time a batter in a major league game had hit two home runs in a single inning. Newspaper accounts described Lewis as a "failure", "unfortunate" and a "much disgusted ball tosser" by the time he moved to left field.
After the season, the PL folded and teams either merged with the NL, joined the AA, or folded outright. There are no further listings of Lewis having played any other major or minor-league games.
Background
Despite defeating the Cleveland Infants 23-2 on Opening Day for the 1890 season of the Players' League (PL) and starting the season with four consecutive wins, Buffalo had fallen to last place in the league by May 17 and, after a brief stint in seventh place, returned to last place on June 2. Author and baseball historian Norman L. Macht attributed Buffalo's poor record to the performance of their pitchers, and author and baseball historian Ed Koszarek stated the Bisons still needed pitchers by the time John Buckley made his debut for the team on July 15; by July 11, the day before Lewis made his debut, the team had a record of 17-42, the worst in the PL. Lewis, according to Macht, was a "local boy" who stated he was a pitcher and asked for a tryout when Buffalo played against the Brooklyn Ward's Wonders on July 12, 1890, at Eastern Park in Brooklyn. Bisons player-manager Jack Rowe started Lewis on the . A recollection in The Illustrated Buffalo Express and in the Brooklyn Citizen state that Brooklyn batted first, though it is recorded that Brooklyn batter Lou Bierbauer hit his two home runs in the bottom of the third inning. this was only the second time a batter in a major league game had hit two home runs in a single inning. Lewis did manage to record at least one strikeout as a pitcher. Defensively, Lewis recorded two putouts and three assists on five total chances as a pitcher, with no putouts or assists on no chances as a left fielder. As a batter, Lewis recorded one hit over five at bats for a batting average of .200, and scored a run. only list nine players as having played for Buffalo in the game, the game as lasting nine innings, and Lewis as having played only in left field and as a pitcher. A July 13, 1890 article in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle described Beecher as an "improvement" over Lewis as a pitcher, but Sporting Life notes on the game say Beecher "fared but little better".
Brooklyn won the game 28-16. The total of 44 runs set a record for the most combined runs scored in a single MLB game which stood until 1922. Lewis recorded a for his dismal performance. The game in which Lewis played lasted two hours and three minutes, according to The New York Times; Lon Knight and Charley Jones served as umpires. with "awfully stiff" winds blowing in from Jamaica Bay and fans "shiveringly to their seats". the New-York Tribune called him a "failure"; and the St. Louis Post-Dispatch said the game was "full of accidents", though "Lewis was used worse than all the rest, as he was knocked completely out of the box". and , Lewis’s first name remained "mercifully unknown", according to Macht. Lewis does not hold the MLB single-season highest ERA record among non-qualifiers, which is infinity. Lewis is not listed as having played in any other major or minor-league games.<ref name="BR" />

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