2025 INDUCTEE – Marc Lewis

By David Elwell
The Decatur Daily

After starring in baseball at Decatur High and in college at Calhoun, Lewis was drafted by the Boston Red Sox in the 25^th round of the 1994 draft. He played in the minor leagues for eight seasons with three different organizations, Red Sox, Braves and Twins. In 730 games, Lewis hit .282, stole 145 bases, slugged 69 home runs and scored 374 runs. In 1997, Lewis played for the Southern League champion Greenville Braves.  He hit .273 with 21 stolen bases, 64 runs scored and 67 RBIs. After a knee injury ended his career, Lewis has remained close to the game as a private instructor.

A lot of Marc Lewis’ life has revolved around what a person can do with a baseball and a bat.

Lewis, 49, grew up learning the game of baseball from a special group of men that included his father Mack Lewis. He played the game at a high level on the ball fields in Decatur, blossomed into a star at Calhoun and chased his dream of playing in the major leagues.

“Some of the best memories growing up came from going to watch my Dad play baseball on the weekends,” Lewis said. “He played with a group of friends that included guys like Junior Vaughn, Tom Love, Joe Porter, “Frog” Turner and Joe Sutherland. They loved to play baseball.”

Marc Lewis’s father, Mack, was the first black fireman for the City of Decatur. The pick-up games for Mack Lewis and his friends would be in places around Decatur like West Town or Cedar Lake. Sometimes they would venture out of town to places as far as Birmingham.

Not only could the men play the game, they could also share stories of some of the games and players they had seen. Vaughn, a 2013 Morgan County Sports Hall of Fame inductee, played for the Indianapolis Clowns, baseball’s version of the Harlem Globetrotters. He competed against some great players, including the legendary Satchel Paige.

“One of my favorite baseball movies is ‘Bingo Long Travelling All Stars,’” Lewis said. “It was about a black baseball team that traveled around the country.

“The stories and jokes they told in the movie reminds me of what it was like to be around my Dad and his teammates. They could tell some stories. They liked laughing and having a good time.”

When it came time for Lewis to play on the youth fields at Point Mallard, his Dad coached the team along with some help from some of his baseball friends.

“They taught us the right way to play the game,” Lewis said. “I don’t think a lot of the kids playing today learn the fundamentals of the game like we did.”

Lewis also excelled on the basketball court. He and fellow Hall of Fame inductee Rod Bass are cousins. One year they were teammates on a youth team out of the T.C. Almon Recreation Center that won a state championship in a tournament in Mobile. Their coach was Gary Redus, who was then in the middle of his 13-year major league career and is also in the Morgan County Sports Hall of Fame.

“Just being around Gary Redus that basketball season inspired me to want to play baseball at the highest level,” Lewis said. “He was from here and made it to the major leagues. If he could, maybe I could.”

The strong desire for success in baseball eventually pulled Lewis away from basketball to focus solely on one sport. If his mid-90s fastball didn’t catch your attention, his hitting skills mixed with his base-running speed would.

“One summer I played on an American Legion team that was really talented,” Lewis said. “We had guys like Ken Westmoreland, Jay Chittam and David Mote. We won the state tournament and advanced to the regional in Florida. I had some pretty good numbers on a pretty good team. That opened my eyes to playing in college and beyond.’”

While Lewis starred at Decatur High, one of his coaches was fellow Hall of Fame inductee Bob Godsey.

“There was nothing on the baseball field that Marc couldn’t do,” Godsey said. “He was an unbelievable talent. He was what you call a five-tool player.”

A five-tool baseball player has to hit for a high average, hit with power, display speed on the bases and in the field, have a strong and accurate throwing arm and be a great fielder.

Before Lewis left high school, the prospects of being a pitching prospect changed when the velocity of his fastball dropped.

“The thing about sports is that you have to stay healthy,” Lewis said. “I think I hurt my arm making throws from the outfield. If I wasn’t pitching, I was playing in the outfield. That wasn’t good. I should have rested my arm, but at least I could still hit.”

Lewis played at Calhoun Community College in 1994 for head coach Fred Frickie. In that one season, Lewis challenged the school record for all-time season batting average with a .436 mark. Larry Keenum holds the record at .465.

“Marc was a great hitter. Fastball, curve, change-up, he could hit them all,” Frickie said. “When he got on base, he could get to second quicker than anybody I ever coached.”

In the summer of 1994, the Boston Red Sox drafted Lewis in the 25^th round.

“Coach Frickie told me to follow my dream,” Lewis said. “He said you can always go back to college.”

Lewis began an odyssey through the minor leagues that lasted eight years with three different organizations, Red Sox, Braves and Twins. He played in 730 games, hit .282, stole 145 bases, hit 69 home runs and scored 374 runs.

In 1996, Lewis split time between Braves’ teams in Durham and Macon. He hit .306 in 134 games with 50 stolen bases, 79 runs scored and 54 RBIs.

The success in 1996 set the stage for a move up to the Southern League Greenville Braves in 1997. Lewis hit .273 with 21 stolen bases, 64 runs scored and 67 RBIs. The Braves beat the Huntsville Stars for the league championship.

“The league was stacked with pitching that season,” Lewis said. “There was Kerry Wood, Roy Halladay and several others who made it to the majors.  I was happy with a .273 average.”

During the eight years in the minors, Lewis was part of two different trades for teams competing for the playoffs trying to strengthen their rosters. In both trades he was “the player to be named later” after the season ended. In 1995, Lewis went from the Red Sox to the Braves. In 1997, the Braves traded him to Minnesota, where Lewis played for the Twins’ AAA team.

“Both of those trades showed me how much pro ball is a business,” Lewis said. “It also showed me how opportunity can define your career. There wasn’t much opportunity with the Braves for a young outfielder.”

Unfortunately for Lewis, knee surgery after the 1997 season followed by a quick return the following season changed the trajectory of his career. After a season of independent league ball in Canada, Lewis decided the chase to follow his dream was over in 2001.

“I played the game from (age) 7 to 26. I had a good run,” Lewis said.

After living for nine years in New York City, Lewis returned to Decatur. He wanted to help future players chase their dreams. He’s been giving baseball and softball lessons for 15 years.

One of Lewis’ favorite students has been his niece Lawren Hayes. She’s an All-American infielder at UAH.

“My life wouldn’t be the same without teaching baseball and softball,” Lewis said. “I look at it as an opportunity to pass along some of the knowledge I learned from my Dad and his friends. It’s important for kids to learn to play the game the right way.”