Colby Lewis

Colby Lewis
Texas Rangers — No. 48
Starting pitcher
Born: August 2, 1979 (1979-08-02) (age 32)
Bats: Right	Throws: Right
MLB debut
April 1, 2002 for the Texas Rangers
Career statistics (through August 31, 2011)
Win-Loss	38–38
Earned run average	4.99
Strikeouts	520
Teams
Texas Rangers (2002–2004) Detroit Tigers (2006) Oakland Athletics (2007) Hiroshima Toyo Carp (2008–2009) (NPB) Texas Rangers (2010–present)

Colby Preston Lewis (born August 2, 1979, in Bakersfield, California) is a Major League Baseball pitcher for the Texas Rangers.

Lewis was originally a first-round draft choice (sandwich pick) of the Texas Rangers in the 1999 Major League Baseball Draft, and made his major league debut in 2002. He played for the Hiroshima Toyo Carp of Japan's Central League from 2008 to 2009, during which he won two awards for most strikeouts.

High School

Lewis is a graduate of North High School in Bakersfield, California.

Junior college career

Lewis attended Bakersfield College, where, as a sophomore, he won first team Western State Conference honors, going 4–5 striking out 108 and posting a 2.86 ERA.

Professional career

Texas Rangers

Lewis was the 38th overall player selected in the 1999 Major League Baseball Draft. He was a highly regarded prospect coming up in the Rangers' system and in three seasons with them had a career ERA of 6.83. Of particular note was his unusual 2003 season, where he managed to post a winning record of 10–9 in 26 starts despite a 7.30 ERA.

Detroit/Washington/Oakland/Kansas City

Lewis suffered an injury early in the 2004 season and missed most of the year after undergoing rotator cuff surgery. He was claimed off waivers by the Detroit Tigers after the 2004 season. On March 20, 2007, the Washington Nationals released him, and he was picked up by the Oakland Athletics just 4 days later.

Lewis began 2007 on the A's Triple-A team, the Sacramento River Cats, where he posted a 8–3 record with a 1.88 ERA. The A's, in need of another starting pitcher to replace the injured Rich Harden, called up Lewis on May 22, 2007. He started the game that day against the Chicago White Sox. His A's debut was a disaster as he pitched 3.1 innings and gave up 10 runs on 12 hits in the A's 10–4 loss. He was immediately sent to the bullpen after that start. Lewis finished the 2007 season with an 0–2 record and a 6.45 ERA in 26 games. Following the 2007 season, on November 2, 2007, Lewis was claimed off waivers by Kansas City Royals; he was then released on December 5, 2007.

Japan Central League

Lewis with the Hiroshima Toyo Carp

For the 2008 season, Lewis signed with the Hiroshima Carp of Japan's Central League. He had a spectacular season with Hiroshima, finishing second in the Central League in wins with 15 (Seth Greisinger of the Yomiuri Giants led the CL with 17 wins), second in the league in ERA (2.68, Masanori Ishikawa of the Yakult Swallows was first at 2.68), and 1st in the league in strikeouts (189),^[1] beating out Greisinger by almost 20 K's.

His 2009 season with the Carp was equally successful. Lewis finished with 186 strikeouts, again leading the league. Although his performance was outstanding, he resigned from the team in hopes of pitching once again in the Major Leagues.

He is also renowned for home runs, which is unusual for a pitcher. (The designated hitter rule is not used in the Central League except in interleague games.) He has 5 NPB career home runs (2 in 2008 and 3 in 2009).

Return to Texas Rangers (2010–present)

2010

On January 14, 2010, Lewis agreed to a two-year contract with the Texas Rangers. At the end of April, he led the American League in strikeouts and was tied for second in the majors with Dan Haren behind Tim Lincecum. He got his first-ever complete game in Major League Baseball against the Houston Astros on June 19.

On October 16, Lewis started Game 2 of the American League Championship Series at home against the New York Yankees. Lewis went 5.2 innings and gave up 2 earned runs on 6 hits. However, he earned the decision, and became the first Ranger pitcher to win a post-season home game in franchise history. On October 22, Lewis started game 6 of the American League Championship Series, also at home, against the New York Yankees. He pitched 8 innings, allowing 1 run on 3 hits, aiding the Rangers to a decisive 6–1 victory. The win allowed the Rangers to win the Series and earn their first-ever American League Pennant. On October 30, Lewis started game 3 of the 2010 World Series, at home against the San Francisco Giants. Lewis went 7 2/3 innings, allowing 2 earned runs on 5 hits. The Rangers went on to win 4–2, with Lewis earning the win in the first Texas victory in a World Series game. After winning those two crucial home playoff games in the 2010 ALCS and Game 3 of the 2010 World Series, Lewis was, so far, the only Rangers pitcher accredited towards three of the Rangers home playoff wins. No other Rangers pitcher had even one.

2011

In April 2011 Lewis was the first MLB player to go on the league's newly created paternity leave list to attend the birth of his child. A player can be on the list for 24 to 72 hours. Lewis took one start off before returning to pitch against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.^[2]

In 2011, Lewis was 14–10 with a 4.40 ERA.^[3] He gave up a league-leading 35 home runs, the 7th-most in Rangers history.^[3][4] In the 2011 Postseason he pitched game 3 in the ALDS and ALCS and game 2 and game 6 in the WS.

References

1. ^ Kurkjian, Tim (2010). Lewis makes unfamiliar trip back. ESPN the Magazine. Retrieved on October 23, 2010.
2. ^ "Rangers coach has no issues with Colby Lewis going on paternity leave". Dallasnews.com. April 20, 2011. http://www.dallasnews.com/sports/texas-rangers/headlines/20110420-rangers-coach-has-no-issues-with-colby-lewis-going-on-paternity-leave.ece. Retrieved October 4, 2011. 
3. ^ ^{a b} "Colby Lewis Statistics and History". Baseball-Reference.com. http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/l/lewisco01.shtml. Retrieved October 4, 2011. 
4. ^ "Texas Rangers Top 10 Pitching Leaders". Baseball-Reference.com. http://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/TEX/leaders_pitch.shtml. Retrieved October 21, 2011. 

External links

• Career statistics and player information from MLB, or ESPN, or Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube

Persondata
Name	Lewis, Colby
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	August 2, 1979
Place of birth	Bakersfield, California
Date of death
Place of death