Bobo Newsom
Louis N. "Bobo" Newsom. Pitcher with the Washington Senators in 1935-1937, 1942, 1943, 1946-1947, and 1952. 211 wins and 21 saves in 20 MLB seasons. 4-time All-Star. 1947 World Series champion. 1942 AL strikeout leader. He had a career ERA of 3.98. Newsom debuted with the Brooklyn Robins/Dodgers in 1929-1930. He changed teams 16 times. Almost joined Benton as only to have pitched to Ruth and Mantle. He was known for his eccentricities. In 1940 with the Detroit Tigers he posted a 21-5 record with a 2.83 ERA in 264 innings pitched. His last team was the Philadelphia Athletics in 1952-1953.
Excerpt from Newsom's SABR biography: The name Bobo came about because Newsom never could or would remember anybody’s name, so he called everyone Bobo and thus earned that nickname for himself. He was 211-222 in his twenty-year Major League career, one of only two pitchers who won more than 200 games but finished with a losing record.
When Bobo started a game, he was determined to go the distance no matter what. On May 28, 1935, a third-inning line drive by Cleveland’s Earl Averill broke his left kneecap. When Washington manager Bucky Harris reached the mound, Newsom said, “I think it’s broke.” Harris asked Bobo if he should take him out of the game. “You kidding me? I said it was broke, I didn’t say I was dead.” Bobo continued to pitch and after every inning would say, “It’s broke” His teammates laughed at him, assuming it couldn’t be broken because he wouldn’t be able to stand up if it was. Following the Senators’ 5–4 loss, Newsom was hobbling around the lobby of the hotel, still insisting his kneecap was broken. Finally he went to get an X-ray, and it was indeed “broke.”
Newsom always felt the need to express his feelings, often to his detriment. In 1943, when he was with the Brooklyn Dodgers, he had a run-in with manager Leo Durocher. The cause was a difference of opinion between the two over a pitch Newsom threw to Vince DiMaggio. Leo wanted the pitch high and inside. Newsom threw what he considered a high and inside pitch. Leo did not concur. After much debate about the merits of the pitch, Newsom finally said, “With two balls and one strike on the hitter and a man on first base you want me to throw a ball that isn’t close to a strike. Why don’t you just walk the guy and save time? If you want me to pitch that way, I don’t know anything about the racket.” Leo disagreed, and the arguing continued until Leo said, “You’re suspended for the season.” “What the hell for?” asked Newsom. “I haven’t cussed you or gone against your orders. You know you can’t suspend me for the season and make it stick.”
Newsom’s teammates threatened to go on strike unless he was reinstated. The usually reserved and gentlemanly Arky Vaughan was so upset by the argument and subsequent suspension that he rolled up his uniform, handed it to Durocher, and told Leo to shove it up his ass. With the rest of the team ready to walk out in support of Newsom and Vaughan, Durocher relented and Newsom was reinstated.
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