THE SHOWBOAT THAT REFUSED TO SINK
Bobo Newsom Pitched - And Won - With Broken Jaw, Broken Leg
"Lewis Norman Newsom, the Great Showboat, moved majestically across the room on the eve of the All-Star Game and swiftly buttonholed his victim. Bobo's eyes were sad, his expression pained.
'Bobo wants to talk to you,' Bobo' he said, a sob in his voice. The words had a familiar ring because the massive Mr. Newsom always has had a quaint manner of speaking, addressing everyone as Bobo and using the third approach for himself. But the heavy Carolina drawl has flattened out since he retired after 20 years of top-flight pitching in the big leagues to become a Baltimore broadcaster. However, he's still as big a ham as ever and it was instantly evident that he was playing this role for tragedy.
'You once wrote that Bobo horsed around with a five-run lead against the Yankees,' said Bobo earnestly. 'I admit I was a showboat and hammed it up good but Bobo liked to win too much. You know that, Bobo, don't you?'
Sure do. The large Mr. Newsom may not have been quite as good as he thought he was but he certainly was a magnificent competitor. As the admiring boys in the trade used to say of him, 'He had the gall of a burglar.'
The prize example, of course, was in 1936 when he was pitching for the Senators against the Indians. Earl Averill, a vicious hitter, swung violently and the ball went back as if shot from a cannon. It struck Bobo on the knee. Bobo hobbled after the ball and threw out the runner. Oblivious to pain, the indomitable Newsom finished the game to score a 5-4 victory. Then he limped to the clubhouse.
'Mike,' Bobo drawled to the trainer, 'Bobo thinks his laig is broke.' It was, too. He was in a cast for five weeks.
On Opening Day in 1936 Bobo was matched against Lefty Gomez and the Yankees. At one point in the fray, the mercury-footed Ben Chapman dropped down a bunt. In swooped Ossie Bluege from third. He made a hasty throw. Bobo was merely standing there, admiring himself, when the bullet peg crashed with sickening force against his jaw.
Bobo staggered from the mound like a wounded water buffalo crazed with pain. He ran in circles. They tried to lead him to the bench. He refused.
'Whenever President Roosevelt comes to see Bobo pitch,' said Bobo with great dignity, 'Bobo ain't gonna disappoint him.'
This was in the third inning, mind you. Bobo won the game, 1-0. Oh, yes. His jaw was broken.
Oscar Judd once caromed a line drive off Bobo's forehead, the ball rolling all the way to center field. Bobo rolled with the punch but didn't go down.
'But Bobo didn't remember nuthin' for a few innings afterwards, though,' he later confessed.
He broke a finger in Detroit and the doctors said he'd be out for three weeks. The huge Mr. Newsom disagreed.
'When Bobo wants a fracture to heal,' he said, 'it's gonna heal in a hurry.' Eleven days later he was pitching. The Athletics beat him, 1-0, but they had to go 11 innings to do it.
There was one season when Bobo had won 18 games for the Tigers as the final double-header of the year approached. Bobo had been promised a bonus if he won 20. Late in the first game Del Baker, the Detroit manager, signaled the bullpen for help, and out strode Bobo, who was scheduled to pitch the second game. Baker gasped and protested.
'If Bobo ain't worried none,' imperiously announced Bobo, 'you shouldn't worry neither.' So he won the first game- and the second game, too.
It was in 1940 when Bobo won the opening game of the World Series and then was called home by the sudden death of his father. Bravely he returned in time for the fourth game. The story was a tear-jerker, Bobo winning for his father. He did, of course. But Paul Derringer of the Reds edged him in the seventh game, 2-1.
'Bobo shore woulda liked to win that one,' said Bobo afterward.
'For your father?' asked a reporter, scenting a story.
'No, for Bobo,' said Bobo.
Bobo once took Bob Considine to task for writing that he'd won 31 games one Pacific Coast League season. Bobo said that it was 33, although the record book insisted on 31.
'Who you gonna believe?' said Bobo with an air of finality.
The tale of Bobo showboating with a five-run against the Yankees had been supplied by Birdie Tebbets, who had caught him that day.
'I may have erred on the size of the lead,' admitted Birdie, 'but the story is essentially correct.' His eyes twinkled. 'Bobo just wants you to write about him again. He loves to see his name in the paper.' "
-Arthur Daley, New York Times (Baseball Digest, September 1956)
No comments:
Post a Comment