Heber Hampton Newsome (December 13, 1909 – December 15, 1965) was a
starting pitcher
In baseball (hardball or softball), a starting pitcher or starter is the first pitcher in the game for each team. A pitcher is credited with a game started if they throw the first pitch to the opponent's first batter of a game. Starting pit ...
in
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...
who played his entire career for the
Boston Red Sox
The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight ...
between the and seasons. Listed at , 185 lb., Newsome batted and threw right-handed. A native of
Wake Forest University
Wake Forest University is a private research university in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Founded in 1834, the university received its name from its original location in Wake Forest, north of Raleigh, North Carolina. The Reynolda Campus, the un ...
.
In his rookie year, Newsome won 19 games (third in the
American League
The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western League, a minor league ...
) and compiled 10
shutout
In team sports, a shutout ( US) or clean sheet ( UK) is a game in which one team prevents the other from scoring any points. While possible in most major sports, they are highly improbable in some sports, such as basketball.
Shutouts are usuall ...
s, leading a Red Sox pitching rotation that included
Charlie Wagner
Charles Thomas Wagner (December 3, 1912 – August 31, 2006) was an American right-handed pitcher and coach in Major League Baseball who played his entire career for the Boston Red Sox (1938–42, 1946). Nicknamed "Broadway," he went on to a 50- ...
,
Mickey Harris
Maurice Charles "Mickey" Harris (January 30, 1917 – April 15, 1971) was an American professional baseball player. He was a pitcher in Major League Baseball (MLB) for nine seasons with the Boston Red Sox, Washington Senators (1901–60), Washing ...
,
Joe Dobson
__NOTOC__
Joseph Gordon Dobson (January 20, 1917 – June 23, 1994) was an American professional baseball player, a right-handed pitcher who appeared in Major League Baseball for the Cleveland Indians (1939–40), Boston Red Sox (1941–43; 1946 ...
and
Lefty Grove
Robert Moses "Lefty" Grove (March 6, 1900 – May 22, 1975) was an American professional baseball pitcher. After having success in the minor leagues during the early 1920s, Grove became a star in Major League Baseball with the American League's P ...
. He was considered for the MVP Award, ending ninth in the ballot.
But Newsome slumped badly the next two years, winning only eight games in each of them. After the 1943 season, he served in the
Army
An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...
during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, and then returned to his farm.
In a three-season career, Newsome posted a 35–33 record with 138
strikeout
In baseball or softball, a strikeout (or strike-out) occurs when a batter accumulates three strikes during a time at bat. It usually means that the batter is out. A strikeout is a statistic recorded for both pitchers and batters, and is deno ...
s and a 4.50
ERA
An era is a span of time defined for the purposes of chronology or historiography, as in the regnal eras in the history of a given monarchy, a calendar era used for a given calendar, or the geological eras defined for the history of Earth.
Comp ...
in 526.0
innings pitched
In baseball, innings pitched (IP) are the number of innings a pitcher has completed, measured by the number of batters and baserunners that are put out while the pitcher is on the pitching mound in a game. Three outs made is equal to one innin ...
.
Newsome died in an automobile accident in Ahoskie, North Carolina, just two days after he turned 56 years old.