Was Rufus Lewis a pitcher?

Yes. Rufus Lewis pitched in the major leagues, recording 20 wins and 190 strikeouts.

How many home runs did Rufus Lewis hit?

Rufus Lewis hit 2 career home runs with 18 hits.

What was Rufus Lewis's career batting average?

Rufus Lewis batted .180 over his career, with 18 hits in 100 at bats.

How many RBI did Rufus Lewis have?

Rufus Lewis drove in 9 runs in his career.

What was Rufus Lewis's career ERA?

Rufus Lewis finished with a 2.99 career ERA, going 20-14 with 190 strikeouts.

How many strikeouts did Rufus Lewis have?

Rufus Lewis recorded 190 career strikeouts.

Rufus Lewis

Pitcher · Career Stats, Bio & Records

Rufus Lewis was a pitcher who played in Major League Baseball for the Newark Eagles. Across 43 career appearances, he went 20-14 with a 2.99 ERA and 190 strikeouts. Rufus Lewis was a 2-time All-Star. His totals include Negro Leagues seasons, which MLB recognized as major league in 2020. His career Pitcher PIV — Baseball Data Hub's era-adjusted measure of pitching impact — is 7634.9.

W (Wins):: Games credited to a pitcher whose team took a lead it never surrendered while he was the pitcher of record.
ERA (Earned Run Average):: Earned runs allowed per nine innings pitched: (ER × 9) ÷ IP. The primary measure of pitching effectiveness.
SO (Strikeouts):: For a batter, times retired on a third strike; for a pitcher, batters retired on a third strike.
WHIP (Walks and Hits per Inning Pitched):: Baserunners allowed per inning: (BB + H) ÷ IP. Under 1.00 is elite.

Data updated September 8, 2026

W–L 20–14

ERA 2.99

WHIP 1.18

SO 190

Pitcher PIV 7634.9

Position: Pitcher
Bats / Throws: R / R
Height / Weight: 6'0" / 180 lb
Born: 12/13/1919 in Johnston Station, MS, USA
Died: 12/17/1999 in Southfield, MI, USA
Awards: 2× All-Star

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Negro Leagues Career Statistics

Batting

Rufus Lewis — Batting
PA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	SB	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS
162.0	151.0	23.0	29.0	3.0	0	4.0	9.0	8.0	1.0	0	.192	.233	.291	.524

Pitching

Rufus Lewis — Pitching
W	L	GS	CG	GF	SV	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	SO	ERA	WHIP
34	28	63	45	14	3	523.0	454	236	73	17	101	174	1.26	1.06

Negro Leagues (season totals). Additive Retrosheet-digitized totals for seasons not already in the logs above; they are not summed into the career line. No team/league breakdown is available, and coverage may be partial.

Negro Leagues Season-by-Season Batting

Rufus Lewis — Negro Leagues Season-by-Season Batting
Season	PA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	SB	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS
1949	25.0	23.0	4.0	6.0	1.0	0	2.0	4.0	2.0	0	0	.261	.320	.565	.885
Listed seasons · 1	25	23	4	6	1	0	2	4	2	0	0	.261	—	—	—

Negro Leagues Season-by-Season Pitching

Rufus Lewis — Negro Leagues Season-by-Season Pitching
Season	W	L	GS	CG	GF	SV	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	SO	ERA	WHIP
1949	6	10	16	12	4	1	136.0	136	77	15	2	11	29	0.99	1.08
Listed seasons · 1	6	10	16	12	4	1	136.0	136	77	15	2	11	29	0.99	1.08

Career Pitching Statistics

Rufus Lewis — Career Pitching Statistics
W	L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	IP	H	ER	HR	BB	SO	ERA	Pitcher PIV
20	14	43	35	23	6	2	279.7	248	93	12	82	190	2.99	7634.9

Career ERA 2.99 vs. league average 3.89 across their career seasons — 23.0% better than league average.

Season-by-Season Pitching

Pitching Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Rufus Lewis — Season-by-Season Pitching
Year	Team	Lg	W	L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA	Lg ERA	Pitcher PIV
1946	NE	NN2	8	2	14	13	7	1	0	91.3	76	20	22	60	1.97	3.59 (+45%)	1727.2
1947	NE	NN2	8	6	17	13	11	2	1	111.0	116	57	30	81	4.62	3.97 (-16%)	3573.6
1948	NE	NN2	4	6	12	9	5	3	1	77.3	56	16	30	49	1.86	4.10 (+55%)	2334.2
Career · 3 seasons			20	14	43	35	23	6	2	279.2	248	93	82	190	2.99	—	7,635

Lg columns show the league average for that season, with the player's figure as a percentage above or below it. Career totals the seasons listed above.

Career Batting Statistics

Rufus Lewis — Career Batting Statistics
G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	BB	SO	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS	PIV
43	100	16	18	3	1	2	9	0	9	1	.180	.248	.290	.538	0

Career AVG .180 vs. league average .261 across their career seasons — 31.0% below league average.

Career OBP .248 vs. league average .335 across their career seasons — 26.1% below league average.

Career SLG .290 vs. league average .371 across their career seasons — 21.9% below league average.

Career OPS .538 vs. league average .707 across their career seasons — 23.9% below league average.

Season-by-Season Batting

Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Rufus Lewis — Season-by-Season Batting
Year	Team	Lg	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	AVG	Lg AVG	Lg OBP	Lg SLG	Lg OPS	PIV
1946	NE	NN2	14	31	7	7	1	1	2	7	4	1	.226	—	—	—	—	0.0
1947	NE	NN2	17	42	7	8	1	0	0	2	5	0	.190	—	—	—	—	0.0
1948	NE	NN2	12	27	2	3	1	0	0	0	0	0	.111	—	—	—	—	0.0
Career · 3 seasons			43	100	16	18	3	1	2	9	9	1	.180	—	—	—	—	0

Lg columns show the league average for that season, with the player's figure as a percentage above or below it. Career totals the seasons listed above.

Postseason Statistics

Playoff Career Batting

Rufus Lewis — Playoff Career Batting
G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	AVG
3	8	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	.125

Playoff Batting by Year

Rufus Lewis — Playoff Batting by Year
Year	Round	Team	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	AVG
1946	NWS	NE	3	8	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	.125

Playoff Career Pitching

Rufus Lewis — Playoff Career Pitching
W	L	G	GS	SV	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA
2	1	3	2	0	22.0	16	3	5	15	1.23

Playoff Pitching by Year

Rufus Lewis — Playoff Pitching by Year
Year	Round	Team	W	L	G	GS	SV	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA
1946	NWS	NE	2	1	3	2	0	22.0	16	3	5	15	1.23

Game Log & Splits

View full game log (136 games) →

Per-game data from Retrosheet (regular season, through 2025).

Batting — Home / Away

Rufus Lewis — Batting — Home / Away
Split	G	AB	R	H	HR	RBI	AVG
Home	36	75	12	15	4	10	.200
Away	32	55	7	10	0	2	.182

Pitching — Home / Away

Rufus Lewis — Pitching — Home / Away
Split	G	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA
Home	36	257.2	224	35	58	52	1.22
Away	32	194.1	173	18	31	76	0.83

Last 10 Games — Batting

Rufus Lewis — Last 10 Games — Batting
Date	Tm	Opp	Res	AB	R	H	2B
1949-08-31	HOE	MEM	L	0	0	0	0
1949-08-21	HOE	NY6	W	1	0	0	0
1949-08-19	HOE	BLG	L	4	1	1	1
1949-08-10	HOE	KCM	W	2	1	1	0
1949-08-07	HOE	KCM	W	3	0	0	0
1949-07-24	HOE	LCB	L	0	0	0	0
1949-07-15	HOE	IN9	L	0	0	0	0
1949-07-10	HOE	IN9	L	0	0	0	0
1949-06-26	HOE	CAG	L	0	0	0	0
1949-06-17	HOE	MEM	L	0	0	0	0

Last 10 Games — Pitching

Rufus Lewis — Last 10 Games — Pitching
Date	Tm	Opp	Dec	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO
1949-08-31	HOE	MEM	L	8.0	4	2	0	0	0
1949-08-21	HOE	NY6	SV	2.0	0	0	0	1	4
1949-08-19	HOE	BLG	L	8.0	12	7	0	4	1
1949-08-10	HOE	KCM	W	5.0	0	0	0	2	3
1949-08-07	HOE	KCM	W	5.1	10	4	3	0	4
1949-07-24	HOE	LCB	L	7.0	4	3	0	0	0
1949-07-15	HOE	IN9	L	9.0	9	6	0	0	0
1949-07-10	HOE	IN9	L	9.0	15	7	0	0	0
1949-06-26	HOE	CAG	—	0.0	0	0	0	0	0
1949-06-17	HOE	MEM	L	9.1	0	3	0	0	0

Fielding Statistics

Career Fielding Totals by Position

Rufus Lewis — Career Fielding Totals by Position
Position	G	GS	PO	A	E	DP
P	43	35	4	55	3	2

Season-by-Season Fielding

Rufus Lewis — Season-by-Season Fielding
Year	Team	Pos	G	GS	PO	A	E	DP
1946	NE	P	14	13	1	20	2	2
1947	NE	P	17	13	1	19	0	0
1948	NE	P	12	9	2	16	1	0

Career Games by Position

Position Diamond

Circle size = games played at each position.

Rufus Lewis — Career Games by Position
Position	Games
Pitcher	43

Frequently Asked Questions about Rufus Lewis

Was Rufus Lewis a pitcher?: Yes. Rufus Lewis pitched in the major leagues, recording 20 wins and 190 strikeouts.
How many home runs did Rufus Lewis hit?: Rufus Lewis hit 2 career home runs with 18 hits.
What was Rufus Lewis's career batting average?: Rufus Lewis batted .180 over his career, with 18 hits in 100 at bats.
How many RBI did Rufus Lewis have?: Rufus Lewis drove in 9 runs in his career.
What was Rufus Lewis's career ERA?: Rufus Lewis finished with a 2.99 career ERA, going 20-14 with 190 strikeouts.
How many strikeouts did Rufus Lewis have?: Rufus Lewis recorded 190 career strikeouts.