Dick Newsome

Who was Dick Newsome?

Heber Hampton Newsome was a starting pitcher in Major League Baseball who played his entire career for the Boston Red Sox between the 1941 and 1943 seasons. Listed at 6 ft 0 in, 185 lb., Newsome batted and threw right-handed. A native of Ahoskie, North Carolina, he graduated from Wake Forest University.

In his rookie year, Newsome won 19 games and compiled 10 shutouts, leading a Red Sox pitching rotation that included Charlie Wagner, Mickey Harris, Joe Dobson and Lefty Grove. 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 during the World War II, and then returned to his farm.

In a three-season career, Newsome posted a 35–33 record with 138 strikeouts and a 4.50 ERA in 526.0 innings pitched.

Newsome died in an automobile accident in Ahoskie, North Carolina, just two days after he turned 56 years old.