Harold Newhouser (May 20, 1921 – November 10, 1998), nicknamed "Prince Hal" and "Hurricane Hal," was an American professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball as a pitcher from 1939 to 1955, most notably for the Detroit Tigers, where he was selected for seven straight All-Star Games from 1942 to 1948. He became the first pitcher to win the Most Valuable Player Award twice in consecutive years, winning in 1944 and 1945. Newhouser was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in 1992 and his number 16 was retired by the Detroit Tigers in 1997.
Newhouser was highly regarded by Tigers scout Wish Egan, who ended up signing him for his hometown club for the 1939 season. Starting in the minor leagues that year, he was called up to the major league squad late in the season and made his first start on September 26, 1939. His initial years were rocky, failing to eclipse nine wins in a season from 1939 to 1943. His breakout year came in 1944, in which he totaled 29 wins, the highest mark for a pitcher since 1931, en route to an MVP award. He continued his stellar play in the 1945 season, in which he won another MVP Award, the Pitching Triple Crown, and was the winning pitcher of Game 7 of that year's World Series against the Chicago Cubs.
Newhouser continued to be a consistently solid pitcher in the post-war years, with no pitcher winning more games (170) than Newhouser did in the 1940s. By 1950, problems with his throwing shoulder significantly decreased his effectiveness. He was released from the Tigers during the 1953 season and would have retired from baseball had it not been for former teammate Hank Greenberg, who was general manager of the Cleveland Indians. He signed with the Indians and was a relief pitcher during their pennant-clinching 1954 season, and retired the following year.
Following his retirement as a player, Newhouser served as a scout for the Baltimore Orioles, with some of his notable player findings including Milt Pappas and Dean Chance. He then worked at a bank for twenty years before returning to scouting for the Houston Astros. He insisted that the Astros should draft shortstop Derek Jeter out of high school. When the Astros opted for Phil Nevin instead, he retired from baseball.
Early life Harold "Hal" Newhouser was born on May 20, 1921, in Detroit, Michigan. He was the second son of Theodore and Emilie Newhouser. Theodore, originally from Czechoslovakia, worked as a drafter in the automobile industry and was a former gymnast, while Emilie was originally from Austria. Prior to Hal's birth, the Newhousers moved from Pittsburgh to Detroit. The Newhouser parents were largely indifferent about baseball, even after Hal's older brother of four years, Dick, was discovered by Detroit Tigers scout Wish Egan and spent a couple years for the team's minor league affiliates. During the Great Depression, Newhouser sold newspapers, set up pins at a bowling alley, and collected plastic bottles to recycle to save up money to attend trade school.
As a teenager, Newhouser played in a fast-pitch softball league, but upon the Tigers' win in the 1935 World Series, Newhouser decided he wanted to pitch for his hometown major league team. At the age of fifteen, he started pitching in a sandlot ball league for the first time. Over the course of three seasons, he recorded 42 wins and 3 losses. While attending Wilbur Wright Vocational High School, he started off playing for the school's baseball team. Egan, who took notice of Hal's athletic ability while scouting Dick, convinced him to drop that team and play American Legion Baseball instead. Newhouser did well against the improved competition in Legion play. He recorded nineteen consecutive wins in one stretch, including striking out 20 or more hitters in a game five times.
While at Wilbur Wright Vocational High School in Detroit, Newhouser picked up machining. While he was a talented machinist, Newhouser found it too risky, especially after having to drive numerous classmates to the hospital due to injuries they had sustained. Instead, Newhouser studied to become a drafter at Chrysler, where his father worked. While pitching in the minor leagues, Newhouser would study for his exams, which he would take in September when the major league Tigers called him up. When he was invited to spring training for the team in 1940, he fell behind in his studies and was held back from graduating with the rest of his classmates in June 1940. Starting in September of that year, he would spend three hours each morning at school before reporting to Briggs Stadium, including prior to 1940 World Series games. He graduated in January 1941.
Professional career Detroit Tigers (1939–1953) 1939–1943 Newhouser's talent had been noticed by teams across the MLB, most notably the Tigers and the Cleveland Indians. Soon after returning from a Legion ball tournament on the evening of August 6, 1938, Newhouser signed with the Tigers at the age of 17, thanks to Egan's early scouting efforts and the relationship they had formed. Egan was able to convince Newhouser to sign for the team with a $500 signing bonus. Upon signing, Newhouser, whom Egan deemed the "greatest left-handed pitcher [he] ever saw," gave $400 to his parents while saving the other $100 for himself. Ten minutes later, Indians scout Cy Slapnicka arrived at the Newhouser house with a $15,000 check and a new car, offering both for Newhouser to sign with the franchise. Crushed, Newhouser told Slapnicka that he had already signed with Detroit.
Newhouser started his career in 1939 with the Tigers' Class D affiliate, the Alexandria Aces of the Evangeline Baseball League. He won his first professional baseball game there, striking out eighteen batters in the effort, before winning seven more and earning a promotion to the Class A Beaumont Exporters of the Texas League. Newhouser started hot in Beaumont, winning his first four games before falling into a slump, losing thirteen straight during one particularly bad stretch. This string of performances, along with his notably poor temper, alarmed the Tigers front office. Egan, however, convinced them to call up Newhouser near the end of the season, in order to keep a better eye on him. He joined a pitching staff with the likes of veteran players Schoolboy Rowe, Tommy Bridges, and Bobo Newsom, along with younger players Dizzy Trout and Fred Hutchinson. Manager Del Baker wanted to include the young prospects in the rotation in the final games of the season and on September 26, 1939, Newhouser made his major league debut in the second game of a doubleheader against the Indians. In the game, Newhouser gave up three hits and four walks in five innings, when the game was called due to darkness. Newhouser was credited with the 0–3 loss.
The 1940 campaign saw Newhouser become a much more active part of the rotation. He started in 20 games and posted a 9–9 record with a 4.86 earned run average (ERA). On May 2, Newhouser recorded his first ever win when he allowed only six hits in a 5–3 victory against the Washington Senators away. Detroit went on to win the American League pennant, finishing one game over Cleveland and two over the New York Yankees, earning a 1940 World Series appearance against the Cincinnati Reds. Newhouser, the youngest player on the Tigers roster, did not make an appearance in the Series. He instead watched from the dugout as the Reds won in seven games. Newhouser continued to be an active part of the Tigers rotation in 1941, this time posting a 9–11 record with a 4.79 ERA.
During the 1942 season, Newhouser succeeded against the reduced offensive talent in the league as a result of many players serving in the armed forces during World War II. He finished the season with a 2.45 ERA with eleven complete games and five saves and was an All-Star Game selection for the first time in his career. Despite the positive pitching performance, Newhouser had inconsistent run support from his offensive counterparts and finished the season 8–14. In June, Newhouser planned on being sworn into the Army Air Corps during a game in order to serve in World War II. However, due to a congenital heart defect, he was deemed unfit for service following his physical examination in July.
The 1943 season saw a couple of changes in the Tigers lineup. Firstly, former catcher Steve O'Neill became the new manager of Detroit. Replacing him at the catcher spot would be Paul Richards, who last played for the Philadelphia Athletics in 1935. Richards was largely tasked with bringing Newhouser and his young compatriots to their full potential. At the start of the season, he had proven successful in doing this, as Newhouser credited Richards for his hot start. His 14 strikeouts on May 27 against the New York Yankees were the most a pitcher had put up in a single game since Bob Feller threw 18 in 1938. Through the beginning of June with 50 innings pitched, his earned run average was 0.90, 0.19 lower than Dutch Leonard's full season record. Once again, Newhouser was selected for an All-Star Game, recording a strikeout in three innings of work in the Midsummer Classic. Despite the initial success, Newhouser lost nine straight games from late July to September and finished the season with a dismal 8–17 record and a league-leading 111 walks. Following a September in which he posted a 5.19 ERA, he likely would have been let go had the wartime league talent not been so thin.
1944–1947 During the offseason prior to the 1944 season, Newhouser was offered a full-time job at Chrysler. His family implored him to take the position, as they viewed it as much more secure than a career in baseball, especially with his dismal 34–52 record in his first four years. Newhouser, however, decided to take one more chance at baseball. At that year's wartime spring training in Evansville, Indiana, Richards told Newhouser: "You've been a thrower. I'm going to make you a pitcher." Originally possessing just a fastball, curveball, and changeup, Richards taught Newhouser how to throw a slider. He also taught Newhouser to control his emotions, although it remains unknown exactly what teaching method he used.
The training worked, as 1944 proved to be Newhouser's breakout year. He posted a 29–9 record with a 2.22 ERA en route to his first Most Valuable Player Award. His season started shaky, as he gave up five runs in just two innings of work during his first start, causing manager Steve O'Neill to send him to the bullpen for a week. On April 27 against the Chicago White Sox, Newhouser was given the start, in what O'Neill told him was his "last chance" to remain in the starting rotation. Newhouser made good of his chance, pitching a twelve-inning complete game shutout. This success continued and he was selected to his third-straight All-Star Game on July 11, where he gave up two runs in one and two-thirds innings of work.