On John Newman

This is a Tale of Two Cities (with apologies to Charles Dickens) and a Minor League Baseball Immortal (with apologies to no one).The cities are Jamestown and Owensboro, Ky.

The MBLI is Johnny Newman, a Jamestown resident of sufficient span to rank well up in the Old Settler classification.

So long as the memory of the crop of baseball buffs of the late Thirties and early Forties functions in the two municipalities, the power hitting of the roly-poly Newman will be recalled with that inner glow of pleasure known so well by the fan.

I can say, without fear of contradiction, that Blaster John provided more thrill mileage for the fans of these parts during the seasons of 1940-41-42 than any other one player and was the magnet that drew a minor league gate record of 143,000 paying customers through the turnstiles in ‘42. He crashed 30 homers in ‘41, a total that stood as the league record for many campaigns.

He smote ‘em high and he smote ‘em far.

Recently, Johnny and his wife, Myrtle, spent part of their vacation in Owenboro, where it seems, the Swatsmith played a little baseball before coming to Jamestown. He bombed 35 homers for the Owensboro Oilers for the Kitty League crown in 1939, the total more than doubling the former mark of 17.

Owenboro’s baseball brass, sports writers, and fans gave the Newmans the red carpet treatment to demonstrate the longevity of their memories and Bob Horrell, manager and staff writer of the Owensboro Inquirer unlimbered his typewriter for one of the most heart-warming tributes to a baseball prominent this scribbler has ever had the pleasure of reading.

Some of Johnny’s teammates on that Owensboro club won their spurs in the majors: Early Winn, Jim Hearn, Gerry Staley, Roy Partee, Kirby Higbe, Max Macon and Joe Garagiola.

Newman himself had a shot at the Big Time. A 195-pound left fielder at the time, Johnny was impressing one and all with his distance hitting when a broken leg slowed him down. After the cast was removed, Johnny’s weight ballooned to 245 and he was unable to find a solution for his weight problem.

That was a crushing blow to Johnny’s aspirations but a wonderful break for Falcon franchise owner Harry Bisgeier and manager Greg (The Whistle) Mulleavy.

At the conclusion of his diamond career as manager of the Hamilton, Ont., Red Birds, the big fellow with the infectious grin, settled on Jamestown as his permanent home and for a number of years was identified prominently with the kid baseball programs here.

Johnny WAS a baseball standout in his day and he IS a grand person to know.