Mark Lewis was picked up off waivers by the Orioles upon his early season release by the Reds. It was assumed at the time this was because of Mike Hargrove’s familiarity with Lewis, as he had been the utility player for a couple of his early Tribe squads. At the time, the team was already playing poorly, so the addition of another "older player" did not sit well with many of the fans.

Lewis did not help himself with a slow start, hitting only .130 through his first 15 appearances. After that time, however, Lewis quietly built a respectable season for a utility player, surpassing the performance the O’s had received in that position in a number of years.

Lewis played all over in 2000, as injuries, roster moves, and a desire to keep some experienced professional bats in the lineup, required a great deal of lineup juggling by Hargrove. He made 21 appearances at second, 34 at third, 14 at short, 1 as the DH, and pinch hit 10 times.

The second half of the season, Lewis hit .298 and slugged .447, with an OBP of .343, darn good utility numbers by anyone’s reckoning. Though not a defensive whiz, he demonstrated an ability to get the job done at short and second. His performance at third left something to be desired; both his range and fielding percentage were sub-par.

Not an especially swift baserunner, Lewis was not used as a late inning basestealing threat. He did manage to steal 7 of 9 bases.