Sam Ewing

Samuel James Ewing (born 9 April 1949) is a former baseball player for the Chicago White Sox and the Toronto Blue Jays. He batted left and threw right.

Career
Ewing attended the University of Tennessee, where he was an All-American. Ewing had a collegiate batting average of .412, hitting a high of .464 in his junior year. In 1970, Ewing was chosen to represent the US in the World Amateur games in Columbia. The USA was beaten in extra games by Cuba. Ewing played left field in most games and was one on 7 players on that team playing in the major leagues. Ewing was drafted in the first round by the Montreal Expos (1969) and Chicago White Sox.

In Ewing's first major league game, he was struck out four straight times by Nolan Ryan, who struck out 17 with the California Angels.  He played for the Chicago White Sox in 1973 and 1976, and was selected by the Toronto Blue Jays in the 1976 Major League Baseball expansion draft.  For the Jays in 1977 he hit .287 in 97 games as an outfielder, DH and first baseman.

Throughout his major league career, Ewing was used primarily against right-handed pitchers, gaining only 20 at bats in his entire ML career against southpaws.  He hit left-handed pitchers with a .300 career average—and a 2-run homer in his only plate appearance against a lefty in the 1978 season.

Ewing was used almost exclusively as a pinch hitter in 1978, with only seven starts as a DH and two as a right fielder.  His final American League game was on October 1, 1978. Afterward he went to play in for the Nippon-Ham Fighters in Japan, where he batted .287.

Returning from Japan, Ewing joined his former AAA team and, after the firing of his manager, he accepted the managing job offered by longtime owner Ray Johnstone. The following year he managed the Appleton Foxes (Midwest League) to a fourth-place finish. He was released by management the following year.

His educational background includes graduating from John Overton Comprehensive High School in 1966, a bachelor's degree from University of Tennessee. He got his master's degree in Exercise Physiology and worked on his doctorate in Sports Psychology and physiology at Michigan State University.

References

External links

 Outfielder - Sam Ewing (1971)

Category:1949 births
Category:Living people
Category:All-American college baseball players
Category:American expatriate baseball players in Canada
Category:American expatriate baseball players in Japan
Category:Appleton Foxes players
Category:Baseball players from Tennessee
Category:Chicago White Sox players
Category:Denver Bears players
Category:Iowa Oaks players
Category:Knoxville Sox players
Category:Major League Baseball designated hitters
Category:Major League Baseball first basemen
Category:Major League Baseball left fielders
Category:Major League Baseball right fielders
Category:Michigan State University alumni
Category:Minor league baseball managers
Category:Nippon Ham Fighters players
Category:Nippon Professional Baseball first basemen
Category:Nippon Professional Baseball outfielders
Category:People from Lewisburg, Tennessee
Category:Syracuse Chiefs players
Category:Tennessee Volunteers baseball players
Category:Toronto Blue Jays players
Category:Tucson Toros players