Lewis Albert Fonseca (January 21, 1899 – November 26, 1989) was an American

first baseman A first baseman, abbreviated 1B, is the player on a baseball or softball team who fields the area nearest first base, the first of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. The first baseman is responsible for the majori ...

, second baseman and

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities ...

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

for the Cincinnati Reds, Philadelphia Phillies,

Cleveland Indians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. Since , they have played at Progressive Fi ...

, and

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and ...

. While not a power hitter, he hit for

average In ordinary language, an average is a single number taken as representative of a list of numbers, usually the sum of the numbers divided by how many numbers are in the list (the arithmetic mean). For example, the average of the numbers 2, 3, 4, 7 ...

and was a good contact hitter for most of his career. He topped the .300 mark six times, with his best season coming in with the Indians, when he hit .369 to win the

American League The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western League, a minor league ...

batting title, after coming off a season in which he broke his leg. His success was short-lived, however, as he broke his arm in , and a torn ligament in his leg prematurely ended his playing career. In a 12-year major league career, Fonseca posted a .316

batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average is ...

(1075-3404), scoring 518 runs, hitting 31

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run i ...

s, and compiling 485 RBI in 937 games played. His on-base percentage was .355 and slugging percentage was .432. His career fielding percentage was .983. Fonseca was one of the first to use film in analyzing baseball games and finding flaws in players. It is said that his interest with cameras began while shooting ''

Slide, Kelly, Slide ''Slide, Kelly, Slide'' is a 1927 American comedy film, released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, directed by Edward Sedgwick, and starring William Haines, Sally O'Neil, and Harry Carey. Cast * William Haines as Jim Kelly (fictionalized version of M ...

'' in

1927 Events January * January 1 – The British Broadcasting ''Company'' becomes the British Broadcasting ''Corporation'', when its Royal Charter of incorporation takes effect. John Reith becomes the first Director-General. * January 7 ...

. As

of the Chicago White Sox, he used film extensively. After retiring from playing the game, Fonseca teamed with

Charley Grimm Charles John Grimm (August 28, 1898 – November 15, 1983), nicknamed "Jolly Cholly", was an American professional baseball player and manager. He played in Major League Baseball as a first baseman, most notably for the Chicago Cubs; he was also a ...

to call Chicago White Sox and Chicago Cubs radio broadcasts on station WJJD in 1939 in 1940, then was employed as director of promotions for both major leagues. Fonseca worked on

World Series The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, contested since 1903 between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winner of the World ...

highlight films from their inception in 1943 through 1969, as an editor and director, and narrated the World Series films from 1949-53 and 1955-58 (

Jack Brickhouse John Beasley Brickhouse (January 24, 1916 – August 6, 1998) was an American sportscaster. Known primarily for his play-by-play coverage of Chicago Cubs games on WGN-TV from 1948 to 1981, he received the Ford C. Frick Award from the Baseball Ha ...

narrated the

1954 World Series The 1954 World Series matched the National League champion New York Giants against the American League champion Cleveland Indians. The Giants swept the Series in four games to win their first championship since , defeating the heavily favored Ind ...

film). Television sportscaster

Bob Costas Robert Quinlan Costas (born March 22, 1952) is an American sportscaster who is known for his long tenure with NBC Sports, from 1980 through 2019. He has received 28 Emmy awards for his work and was the prime-time host of 12 Olympic Games from 19 ...

wrote of Fonseca's narration: " isvocal stylings were somewhat less than mellifluous, but still endlessly entertaining." Fonseca was batting coach for the Chicago Cubs for many years, until quite late in life. His daughter Carolynn was a talented actress who worked mostly out of Rome, Italy. Fonseca died in

Ely, Iowa Ely is a city in Linn County, Iowa. The population was 2,328 at the time of the 2020 census. It is part of the Cedar Rapids metropolitan area History Ely was platted in June 1872 by T.M. Johnson. The town is named after John F. Ely, who was on ...

at age 90.

Managerial record

References

External links

*Interview with Lew Fonseca conducted by

Eugene Murdock Eugene Converse Murdock (April 30, 1921 – July 23, 1992) was an historian and author best known for his research into baseball. Early life and education Eugene C. Murdock was born in Lakewood, Ohio, on April 30, 1921, and attended school the ...

on June 26, 1976, in Chicago
Part 12
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Fonseca, Lew 1899 births 1989 deaths American League batting champions American people of Portuguese descent Baseball players from Oakland, California Chicago Cubs announcers Chicago White Sox announcers Chicago White Sox managers Chicago White Sox players Cincinnati Reds players Cleveland Indians players Major League Baseball broadcasters Major League Baseball first basemen Major League Baseball player-managers Major League Baseball second basemen Philadelphia Phillies players Saint Mary's Gaels baseball players

Managerial record

See also

References

External links