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Johnny Joe Lewis
New York Mets
Outfield
Born: August 10, 1939, Greenville, AL
Signed: Signed by the Detroit Tigers as an amateur free agent before 1959 season
Major League Teams: St. Louis Cardinals 1964; New York Mets 1965-1967
Died: July 29, 2018, Pensacola, FL (age 78)
Johnny Lewis began his big league career with the pennant-winning Cardinals before a trade in December 1964 sent him to the basement-dwelling Mets. He'd enjoy his only full season as a player in the majors in 1965, and was arguably the MVP of the 10th place team managed by Casey Stengel (#187) and Wes Westrum. Lewis appeared in 148 games as the team's regular right fielder, batting .245 with 15 home runs and 45 RBIs. Known for his strong throwing arm, Lewis was third in the National League with 14 outfield assists that season. He'd slump badly at the plate over the next two seasons, batting .193 in 1966 and .118 in 1967. Lewis departed the Mets organization following the 1967 season and spent all of 1968 with the San Diego Padres, then the top Phillies farm team in the Pacific Coast League. Despite a strong performance with the Padres, the Phillies never called him up and his playing career ended. Lewis had a .227 batting average in 266 big league games, with 175 hits, 22 home runs and 74 RBIs.
He went back to the Cardinals in 1969 where he'd serve as the team's administrative coordinator of player development and scouting. He was on the Cardinals' major league coaching staff for two stints, between 1973 and 1976, and then again between 1984 and 1989. While not coaching, he scouted for the team and also served as a minor league manager.
Building the Set
December 4, 2021 from The Philly Show (Uncle Dick's Cards, Babylon, NY) - Card #409
You'll be seeing this particular passage on my 1965 Topps blog for quite some time as we added a whopping 97 cards to our set during the December Philadelphia Sports Collectors Show. If I'm ambitious and compose posts for five cards a week, I should be completely caught up by the end of May. If I'm not as ambitious, I might still be going through this stack by the time we hit July. Either way, I'll enjoy the process and I'm looking forward to taking my time. I've posted a complete summary of this fantastic show over at The Phillies Room.
The Card / Mets Team Set
Lewis appeared in the 1964 Topps set on a Rookie Stars card with Dave Bakenhaster, and this is his first solo card. He's wearing a Cardinals jersey here. His trade from the Cardinals to the Mets is referenced on the back. On December 7, 1964, Lewis and Gordie Richardson were sent by St. Louis to the Mets for Elio Chacon and Tracy Stallard (#491).
1965 Season
Lewis' biggest career highlight came on June 14, 1965, when he broke up Reds' pitcher Jim Maloney's (#530) no-hitter in the 11th inning of a game at Crosley Field. Maloney had no-hit the Mets for ten innings, but Lewis led off the top of the 11th with his home run, ultimately giving the Mets a 1-0 victory.
Phillies Connection
Presumably Lewis signed with the Phillies before the 1968 season, and he'd be one of the top three most regularly used outfielders by the Padres along with Billy Cowan (#186) and Rich Barry. Lewis batted .270 with 16 home runs and 57 RBIs, with those two power figures second on the team behind Cowan. Neither Lewis or Cowan would get the call to Philadelphia that season as the Phillies were fairly set with the outfield trio of Dick Allen (#460), Tony Gonzalez (#72) and Johnny Callison (#310).
Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card: 1964 Topps #479
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (5): 1964-1967, 1974
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 1974 Topps #236
27 - Lewis non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 1/2/22.
Sources:
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
SABR
The Trading Card Database
December 4, 2021 from The Philly Show (Uncle Dick's Cards, Babylon, NY) - Card #409
You'll be seeing this particular passage on my 1965 Topps blog for quite some time as we added a whopping 97 cards to our set during the December Philadelphia Sports Collectors Show. If I'm ambitious and compose posts for five cards a week, I should be completely caught up by the end of May. If I'm not as ambitious, I might still be going through this stack by the time we hit July. Either way, I'll enjoy the process and I'm looking forward to taking my time. I've posted a complete summary of this fantastic show over at The Phillies Room.
After securing Doug's Jim Thome autograph, I returned to Uncle Dick's and their neon green shirts, pulled up a chair, and settled in. Over the course of 45 minutes or so, I found 79 cards needed for our set, including this Lewis card which was a little less than $1.50 after the dealer discount. I was surrounded by six or seven other seated collectors, all who looked similar to me, with a touch of gray, focused on their individual quests. I wiped out Uncle Dick's two 1965 Topps commons binders, paid for my haul and then retreated to a table with Doug to update our checklist.
In the middle of all of this, Doug won one of the day's door prizes, which turned out to be an Eagles Super Bowl canvas print. He was thrilled to win, but slightly disappointed the prize wasn't baseball related as neither of us are big football fans.
The Card / Mets Team Set
Lewis appeared in the 1964 Topps set on a Rookie Stars card with Dave Bakenhaster, and this is his first solo card. He's wearing a Cardinals jersey here. His trade from the Cardinals to the Mets is referenced on the back. On December 7, 1964, Lewis and Gordie Richardson were sent by St. Louis to the Mets for Elio Chacon and Tracy Stallard (#491).
1965 Season
Lewis' biggest career highlight came on June 14, 1965, when he broke up Reds' pitcher Jim Maloney's (#530) no-hitter in the 11th inning of a game at Crosley Field. Maloney had no-hit the Mets for ten innings, but Lewis led off the top of the 11th with his home run, ultimately giving the Mets a 1-0 victory.
Phillies Connection
Presumably Lewis signed with the Phillies before the 1968 season, and he'd be one of the top three most regularly used outfielders by the Padres along with Billy Cowan (#186) and Rich Barry. Lewis batted .270 with 16 home runs and 57 RBIs, with those two power figures second on the team behind Cowan. Neither Lewis or Cowan would get the call to Philadelphia that season as the Phillies were fairly set with the outfield trio of Dick Allen (#460), Tony Gonzalez (#72) and Johnny Callison (#310).
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First Mainstream Card: 1964 Topps #479
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (5): 1964-1967, 1974
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 1974 Topps #236
27 - Lewis non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 1/2/22.
Sources:
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
SABR
The Trading Card Database
Wikipedia
Previous Card: #276 Hoyt Wilhelm - Chicago White Sox
Previous Card: #276 Hoyt Wilhelm - Chicago White Sox
Next Card: #278 Ken Retzer - Minnesota Twins
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