Fred Lewis, centre, and teammate Alex Gonzalez, left, celebrate Gonzalez's run against the Kansas City Royals during a game at the Rogers Centre on April 21. (Abelimages/Getty Images)

Three leads that together help explain Fred Lewis:

1. Frederick Deshaun Lewis knows how to adapt.

You might expect that from a guy whose aunt talked his mom into naming him after a hurricane that once levelled large portions of the Alabama coast in 1979, 15 months before his birth.

That would be 26 years before Hurricane Katrina came by and knocked his mom and dad's house off its foundations in Wiggins, Miss., as it carved a killer swath through Louisiana and the Gulf region.

When you can face down the worst curveballs nature can toss at you, handling something like getting traded (for cash) to a new team in a different league in a country you've never visited and don't have a passport for, where upon arrival you are told after one pinch hit that you're leading off the next afternoon so grab a bat … well, you just have to roll with it.

"My first reaction [on being told of the sale] was, yes, I'm happy that somewhere, somebody wanted me to come play for them," says Lewis, who spent the last two full seasons and parts of two others with the San Francisco Giants before basically being declared redundant.

"It was just real exciting to go somewhere where I would get a chance to play."

Oh, and he's played. Toronto Blue Jays' manager Cito Gaston stuck him in at the top of that second day lineup and told him to show what he's got.

At first, it was a trial — most of April was spent, as the players say, "On the Interstate" — below the Mendoza Line of .200 as he went 9-for-45 while Lewis learned the pitchers, the style, the location of the nearest Starbucks and how to get from his furnished condo to the ball park.

Since the beginning of May, the former high school basketball star has been on fire. (As of last Friday, he was batting .547 and leading the American League in hitting for the month of May).

The key, says the 29-year-old, has been learning the differences in hurlers over in the junior loop.

"You might see one fastball [here] and then nothing but breaking balls, but the type of hitter I am, I like to hit fastballs," Lewis says.

"In the National League I get quite a few fastballs, depending on what team that is. They will pitch me in as much as pitch me away. But in the American League they are coming in."

This may be an approach AL pitching coaches should consider changing.

Gaston is happy — always important when he's the guy with the pen in his hand and a blank lineup card on the desk every day.

"I saw Fred just a bit on TV when he was in San Francisco and they talked about what an up-and-coming talent he was," the boss was saying, sitting in the dugout. "Since he's come here he's done a great job for us, he's been a good left-fielder for us and he's been a good leadoff man for us."

Three times in the early going Lewis has won games with big hits and while that's made the skeptical fans and his coaches pleased, most importantly it has won over his teammates.

"You come to a new team and the first thing you want to do is help the team and let your teammates know you are worthy of being here and you are going to bring help, and he's done all of those things," Gaston says.

There are things to work on. Lewis is striking out a lot. The boss wants to straighten out a few things with that swing. But all in all, things are fine, thanks.

All in the hard work

2. Fred Lewis shakes a reporter's hand as they meet in front of his locker more than three hours before game time.

His hand is soaking wet, covered in sweat, after hitting off the tee under the stands as a preliminary to regular batting practice.

Fred Lewis hits an RBI single against the Kansas City Royals during a MLB game at the Rogers Centre April 21, 2010 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. (Abelimages/Getty Images)

This is not unusual for a guy who used to come home from Little League games in Wiggins and hit off a tee in the backyard for hours until mom called him in for dinner.

Just getting his work in.

When you read about Lewis in San Francisco newspapers and on websites, one of the things that always came up is his willingness to sweat.

Kept to that habit this off-season, working eight hours a day with his dad on hitting, staying in shape and all the other things that can keep you in the major leagues.

And where does the work ethic come from?

"I think it's because I came from a family that didn't have very much, but we always worked hard for what we had," Lewis says, in a voice that's quiet and considered.

"I learned a lot from my parents [Levion and Vivian]. Nothing was ever given to us, so we always had to work hard and had to work 10 times harder than the next person."

There's athletic talent in the family — his cousin is Matt Lawton, who played 12 years in the majors as an outfielder, dad was an excellent basketball player and mom, well she was just naturally talented at everything.

"She's very, very strong," the son says. "She could pick up her brothers and manhandle them, pick them up and hang them upside down."

In other words, when mom called dinner, you went.

You can see the ethic around the batting cage where in one session he got in there seven times during his group's minutes, pounding them to all fields and especially bouncing them off the seats over the right-field fence.

When you're hot, don't step back.

Happiness is …

3. Fred Lewis is smiling all the time now.

Can't help himself.

He's hitting up a storm. His teammates like him. His manager is happy. And he's away from a situation in the Bay Area that was eating him up.

"I mean, this is the time in my career I'm having a lot of fun," says Lewis, who while in San Francisco batted everywhere in the lineup except fourth. "I've never seen myself smile this much. Since I played baseball. It's just amazing."

It helps the rest of the surprising Jays are just as happy.

"It's a very loose group. Everything is pretty much laid back, it's not tight, it's just guys having fun."

Lewis may be looking at what in some ways can be seen as one season-long road trip because he's alone in Toronto, but there are ways to keep in touch.

To contact home he uses Skype (video phone calls on the computer) every night to talk with his seven-year-old son and his daughter, who is three. He has a cellphone, and Twitter and Facebook.

That can't be underestimated, either, because back when Katrina hit and Lewis was in the minors, he couldn't find out for a week if his family was alive.

Now, he has fans who are giving him lots of support and welcoming him to town and new country. He had never been out of the U.S. up until April.

"It's nice, because now I have a lot of friends on Facebook and Twitter here in Toronto and around Canada, and they are like, 'I hope you're around for many years,'" he says.

Because he spent spring training with the Giants and didn't make it into the Blue Jays media guide, Lewis will spend this season in the "Additional Bios" hand out given to the press before each game.

If he keeps hitting like this, it'll be the first place all the media looks when the Jays come to town.