Bobo Newsom

Career Batting Stats G AB H R HR RBI SB AVG SLG OBP OPS OPS+ 609 1337 253 86 1 102 1 .189 .217 .200 .417 57.6

Quotes From Bobo Newsom

Bobo Newsom in Minor League Baseball

Best Season: 1940
Leading the Tigers trio of 30-something righties that included Tommy Bridges and Schoolboy Rowe, Newsom was the biggest winner in 1940, notching 21 wins against five defeats. He finished second in the league in ERA, with a mark of 2.83. In late September, Newsom pitched two innings of relief in the opener of a doubleheader against the White Sox, and pitched a complete game victory in the second game. In a reversal of fortune, Newsom led the league with 20 losses the following season.

Factoids
Colorful pitcher Bobo Newsom served five different stints with the Washington Senators, and twirled three different times for the St. Louis Browns.

Though he changed teams 16 times in his career, Bob Newsom was only traded four times.

The Durocher Mutiny
In 1943, his second season with the Dodgers, Bobo was rolling along with a 9-4 record when he took the mound in early July to face the Pirates. The Bucs shelled Newsom early in the game, but rather than take it out on his opponents, the agitated pitcher made a scene with his teammates. Storming off the mound after another Pirate run tallied, Bobo got into a heated argument with his catcher, Bobby Bragan, over a dropped third strike that had allowed a run to scamper home. Within a few moments, Newsom was ejected by home plate umpire Larry Goetz, but the pitcher continued his tirade in the dugout face-to-face with manager Leo Durocher. The next day, when the Dodgers learned that Bobo had been suspended by Durocher for "insubordination," a storm erupted in the clubhouse. Led by Arky Vaughan, the Dodgers walked in to Durocher's office and tossed their jerseys on his table. The team refused to take the field unless Newsom was re-instated. After Newsom addressed his teammates and heads cooled, the Dodgers, with the exception of Vaughan, all agreed to take the field. Having seen enough of what Newsom could do to a ballclub, Branch Rickey traded Bobo to the St. Louis Browns five days later.

A Brief Time Out
Tiger second baseman Charlie Gehringer, from the book : "I remember him pitching against Greenberg once before he came over to our club. It's a hot day, he's got two strikes on Hank, and all of a sudden he just walks off the mound. He didn't even give the umpire a sign or anything. just took off for the dugout. Everybody said, "Well, where's he going?" Bobo goes into the dugout, and we see him going over to a big pail of water, and he's washing his face and he's toweling it off. All this time Greenberg's just waiting, probably thinking Bobo had hurt himself. Finally, after he's all washed up and dried off, Bobo trots out and throws one strike and Greenberg's out. I'd never seen anyone leave quite like that before. Or since. I forget whether he was with the Browns or Washington then, but Bobo was in a class by himself."

Description
One writer noted that Newsom was "gifted with a rare sense of humor into which he managed to weave with a seeming lack of fostentation an amazingly exalted opinion of himself."

Teammate Charlie Gehringer said of Bobo: "He also was probably the biggest character on the Tigers. He was a funny guy. A great jokester. He could do Amos and Andy so well that if you didn't look at him, you'd think you were hearing the radio. He was always pulling some trick, especially on Schoolie. Schoolie wasn't too quick with a repartee, so Bobo was always getting the best of him. Nailed his spikes down to his locker once, and things like that. Just drove Schoolie crazy."

"Good pitcher, though," Gehringer continued, "he probably was on more ball clubs than anybody that ever pitched, but he certainly had a great arm and a great heart for the game. Pretty good beer drinker, but other than that, he really put it all out."

Born
Louis Norman Newsom was born on August 11, 1907, in Hartsville, SC.

Died
December 7, 1962, Orlando, FL

Batted:  Right
Threw:  Right

Major League Debut
9 11,

Nine Other Players Who Debuted in 1929
Rick Ferrell
Doc Cramer
Earl Averill
Bobo Newsom
Larry French
Chief Hogsett
Dale Alexander
Lyn Lary
Eric McNair

Nicknames
Buck

Early in his career, Newsom acquired the nickname "Buck" while pitching in the minors. Later, he adopted "Bobo" as his alias, and he loved to talk about himself in third-person, like: "Bobo thinks he's hungry," or "Bobo really has his sinker working today, fellas." It got to the point where actually called everyone else Bobo as well, which made it nearly impossible to conduct an interview with him. "Bobo" was sort of a character that Louis Newsom played. Every spring training he would arrive with glove in hand and announce to his teammates that he would have the best seaosn of his career and be the sharpest pitcher in baseball. "Bobo" was confident and full of himself. he remained Bobo all season long. When the schedule came to a conclusion, Newsom would retreat home, resume an anonymous off-season as Mr. Louis Newsom and wait for spring to come back around.

Similar Players
No one really compares to Bobo, he was one of a kind. David Wells has some of the same personality traits, in that he and Newsom both loved the limelight, loved to pitch, relied mostly on breaking balls, and pitched well past the time that their bodies seemed suited for the task.

Hall of Fame Voting Year Election Votes Pct 1960 BBWAA 6 2.2% 1962 BBWAA 3 1.9% 1964 BBWAA 17 8.5% 1964 Run Off 1 .4% 1966 BBWAA 25 8.3% 1967 Run Off 6 2.0% 1967 BBWAA 19 6.5% 1968 BBWAA 22 7.8% 1969 BBWAA 32 9.4% 1970 BBWAA 12 4.0% 1971 BBWAA 17 4.7% 1972 BBWAA 31 7.8%

Post-Season Appearances
1940 World Series
1947 World Series

Post-Season Notes
After Newsom pitched for the Yankees in 1947 helped the team win the World Series with two games of relief, he was voted just a 3/4 share of the World Series money by his teammates. In the off-season, when he was asked for his ring-size, Newsom snapped, "Don't make my ring like the others. Put a three-quarter diamond on it."

Feats
On May 18, 1938, Newsom struck out six consecutive batters to equal an American League record. Unfortunately, Joe DiMaggio belted two homers, and the Yankees defeated Newsom's Browns, 11-7.

Pitching Feats

• , 1940: ...

Notes
Newsom was regarded asone of the best negotiators of his era, and he rarely backed down in a salry dispute. He and Senators owner Clark Griffith had numerous disputes, and eventually theyir friendship, which was once very strong, disintegrated... Newsom led the league in losses four times during his career, and won 20 games three times.

All-Star Selections
1938 AL
1939 AL
1940 AL
1944 AL

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