Pitcher, Detroit Tigers
Age: 24 (May 20)
6th season
with Tigers
Bats – Left,
Throws – Left
Height: 6’2” Weight: 180
Prior to 1945:
A Detroit
native, Newhouser was the son of a Czech immigrant gymnast. A fine all-around
athlete in his youth, he became a pitcher in a sandlot baseball league at 15.
Thin and with the ability to throw hard, Newhouser was a serious-minded
perfectionist who could be hard on teammates, a trait that would last into
adulthood. Pitching for an American Legion team in 1937, he excelled with his
fastball and curve, although he had occasional difficulty with his control. At
17, he signed with the hometown Tigers in 1938, whose scout got to him just
before the Cleveland Indians could make him an offer. With two minor league
teams in 1939, the 18-Year-old Newhouser produced a 13-18 record with a 3.21
ERA. He was called up for one late-September game with the Tigers and lost.
Sticking with Detroit in 1940 he went 9-9 with a 4.86 ERA and 89 strikeouts The
Tigers edged the Indians and Yankees for the pennant and the temperamental
“Prince Hal” was not used during the World Series loss to Cincinnati. He
remained inconsistent in 1941 and the brooding loner posted a 9-11 tally and
4.79 ERA with 137 walks and 106 strikeouts. Exempted from World War II military
duty due to a heart condition, Newhouser’s mound performance improved to 8-14
with a 2.45 ERA in 1942 for the fifth-place Tigers. With pitching ranks
depleted by the war, he also was an All-Star for the first time. He had
difficulty with control in 1943 and was 8-17 with a 3.04 ERA and 144 strikeouts
along with a league-leading 111 walks over the course of 195.2 innings pitched.
During spring training in 1944 he worked with catcher Paul Richards to develop
a slider to add to his arsenal and to harness his emotions as well. Detroit
finished a close second to the St. Louis Browns in the AL pennant race and the
pitching tandem of Newhouser and RHP Dizzy Trout were key factors in the club’s
success, with Newhouser contributing a 29-9 record and a 2.22 ERA along with a
league-leading 187 strikeouts. He beat out Trout in a close decision for AL
MVP.
1945 Season Summary
Appeared in 40
games
[Bracketed
numbers indicate AL rank in Top 20]
Pitching
Games – 40 [5]
Games Started –
36 [1]
Complete Games
– 29 [1]
Wins – 25 [1]
Losses – 9
PCT - .735 [2]
Saves – 2 [13,
tied with ten others]
Shutouts – 8 [1]
Innings Pitched
– 313.1 [1]
Hits – 239 [4]
Runs – 73
Earned Runs – 63
Home Runs – 5
Bases on Balls
– 110 [3]
Strikeouts – 212
[1]
ERA – 1.81 [1]
Hit Batters – 0
Balks – 2 [2,
tied with Monk Dubiel & Hal Kleine]
Wild Pitches – 10
[1]
League-leading
games started were +2 ahead of runner-up Bobo Newsom
League-leading
complete games were +3 ahead of runner-up Dave Ferriss
League-leading wins
were +4 ahead of runner-up Dave Ferriss
League-leading
shutouts were +3 ahead of runners-up Al Benton & Dave Ferriss
League-leading
innings pitched were +48.2 ahead of runner-up Dave Ferriss
League-leading strikeouts
were +83 ahead of runner-up Nels Potter
League-leading
ERA was -0.21 lower than runner-up Al Benton
League-leading
wild pitches were +3 ahead of runner-up Lou Knerr
Midseason
Snapshot: 13-6, ERA - 1.66, SO - 112 in 167.2 IP
Most
strikeouts, game – 11 (in 9 IP) at Phila. A’s 5/23
10+ strikeout
games – 2
Fewest hits
allowed, game (min. 7 IP) – 1 (in 9 IP) vs. St. Louis Browns 5/6
Batting
PA – 124, AB – 109,
R – 8, H – 28, 2B – 5, 3B – 1, HR – 0, RBI – 17, BB – 7, SO – 10, SB – 0, CS – 1,
AVG - .257, GDP – 1, HBP – 0, SH – 8, SF – N/A
Fielding
Chances – 82
Put Outs – 16
Assists – 66
Errors – 0
DP – 5
Pct.
- 1.000
Postseason
Pitching: G – 3 (World Series vs. Chi. Cubs)
GS – 3, CG – 2, Record – 2-1, PCT – .667, SV – 0, ShO – 0, IP – 20.2, H – 25, R – 14, ER – 14, HR – 0, BB – 4, SO – 22, ERA – 6.10, HB – 0, BLK – 0, WP – 1
Awards & Honors:
AL MVP: BBWAA
MLB Player of the Year: Sporting News
AL Pitcher of the Year: Sporting News
All-Star
Top 5 in AL MVP
Voting:
Hal Newhouser,
Det.: 236 pts. – 9 of 24 first place votes, 70% share
Eddie Mayo,
Det.: 164 pts. – 7 first place votes, 49% share
George
Stirnweiss, NYY: 161 pts. – 4 first place votes, 48% share
Dave Ferriss,
BosRS.: 148 pts. – 2 first place votes, 44% share
George Myatt,
Wash.: 98 pts. – 1 first place vote, 29% share
(1
first place vote for Joe Kuhel, Wash., who ranked 12th)
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Tigers went
88-65 to win the AL pennant by 1.5 games over the Washington Senators. The
pitching staff led the league in shutouts (19, tied with Washington), saves
(16), and strikeouts (588). Thanks to the pitching of Newhouser, RHPs Al Benton
and Dizzy Trout, the Tigers were holding on to first place when star outfielder
Hank Greenberg returned from Army duty in June. Benton suffered a broken ankle
in May and Newhouser was briefly sidelined with a back injury in September. With
a half-game lead over the Senators the Tigers went 3-2 in a five-game series at
Washington. While the Senators wrapped up their season on Sept. 23, the Tigers maintained
a narrow lead until the finale against the St. Louis Browns, won by Detroit on
Greenberg’s grand slam to wrap up the pennant. Won World Series over the
Chicago Cubs, 4 games to 3. A 4-run 6th inning in Game 5 led to a
crucial win for the Tigers. After losing badly in Game 1, Newhouser won Games 5
and 7.
Aftermath of ‘45:
In the
offseason Newhouser was offered $200,000 over three years to pitch in the
Mexican League, as Jorge Pasquel, the league’s president and principal team
owner, sought to raid the major leagues for talent. Offered a $10,000 bonus to
stay with Detroit, Newhouser had another outstanding season in 1946 while
facing the talent returning from military service. The Tigers dropped to second
place and Newhouser went 26-9 with a league-leading 1.94 ERA as well as 275
strikeouts. He finished second in league MVP voting this time. A forerunner of
modern pitchers, he had his games taped and ran the movies between starts to
search for flaws in his delivery. Detroit again finished second in 1947 and
“Prince Hal” had a 17-17 record with a 2.87 ERA, AL-leading 24 complete games,
and 176 strikeouts. He bounced back to 21-12 in 1948 with a 3.01 ERA and 143
strikeouts. Dealing with a sore shoulder and relying on finesse rather than
speed, Newhouser had an 18-11 tally in 1949 with a 3.36 ERA and 144 strikeouts.
In 1950 the production was 15-13 with a 4.34 ERA and 87 strikeouts. Missing
half of 1951 due to the ongoing shoulder woes, his record dropped to 6-6 and a
3.92 ERA in just 15 appearances. The downward spiral continued with a 9-9 mark
in 25 appearances in 1952 and 0-1 with a 7.06 ERA in 7 games in 1953. Released
by the Tigers and contemplating retirement, he signed with the Cleveland
Indians as a reliever in 1954 at the invitation of GM Hank Greenberg, his
former teammate. The Indians won the AL pennant and Newhouser contributed a 7-2
record and 7 saves plus a 2.51 ERA as part of an effective bullpen. He appeared
in just two games in 1955 before retiring. For his major league career, he
compiled a 207-150 record with a 3.06 ERA, 26 saves, 33 shutouts, and 1796
strikeouts over 2993 innings. With the Tigers he was 200-148 with a 3.07 ERA,
212 complete games, 33 shutouts, 19 saves, and 1770 strikeouts. During the
three-year stretch from 1944 to ’46, he went 80-27 with a 1.99 ERA. Appearing
in four World Series games he was 2-1 with 22 strikeouts over 20.2 innings.
Newhouser remains the only pitcher to win MVP awards over two consecutive
seasons and was also a seven-time All-Star. The Tigers retired his #16 and he
was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1992, six years before his death
at age 77.
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MVP Profiles feature players in the National or American leagues who were winners of the Chalmers Award (1911-14), League Award (1922-29), or Baseball Writers’ Association of America Award (1931 to present) as Most Valuable Player.
