Allen Lewis
Longtime SABR member Allen Lewis, a baseball writer for The Philadelphia Inquirer and the 1981 J.G. Taylor Spink Award winner, passed away Sunday, September 14, 2003. He was 86.
In addition to his Hall of Fame writing, Lewis was the first official scorer for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays.
A SABR member since 1979, Allen was a friend to Retrosheet in the early years of its inception. He was one of the first sportswriters to loan them his scorebooks so they could make copies.
Longtime SABR member Allen Lewis, a baseball writer for The Philadelphia Inquirer and the 1981 J.G. Taylor Spink Award winner, passed away Sunday, September 14, 2003. He was 86.
In addition to his Hall of Fame writing, Lewis was the first official scorer for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays.
A SABR member since 1979, Allen was a friend to Retrosheet in the early years of its inception. He was one of the first sportswriters to loan them his scorebooks so they could make copies.
“Thanks to him, we have play by play of every Phillies game back to 1957, ” said SABR member David W. Smith, founder of Retrosheet. “His scorekeeping was nothing less than meticulous. The detail was unsurpassed by any other writer whose books we were able to copy. There have been dozens of requests I have received from SABR members that I was able to answer due to the copies of his scoresheets that we had.”
He is survived by his daughter and her husband, Barry, two granddaughters; and one great-granddaughter. He will be missed.
Originally published: September 17, 2003. Last Updated: September 17, 2003.