Jeff Newman (baseball)

Jeffrey Lynn Newman (born September 11, 1948) is a former Major League Baseball catcher. He served as the interim manager of the Oakland Athletics in 1986 after Jackie Moore was fired and before Tony La Russa was hired.

Early years

Newman was drafted by the Cleveland Indians in the 26th round of the 1970 Major League Baseball Draft after earning All-America honors at Texas Christian University in 1968. Originally, Newman played first, third and the outfield, and didn't begin catching until 1972 with the Reno Silver Sox of the California League. He spent six seasons in the Indians' farm system, batting .259 with 73 home runs and 333 runs batted in when the Oakland A's purchased his contract in October 1975.

Oakland Athletics

Newman was called up to the majors in June 1976, and spent the rest of the season backing up Gene Tenace behind the plate. After backing up Manny Sanguillén in 1977, he moved into a platoon with Jim Essian from 1978 through 1980, while also backing up Dave Revering at first base. He was batting .229 with sixteen home runs and 52 RBIs when he was selected by AL manager Bob Lemon as Oakland's sole representative at the 1979 Major League Baseball All-Star Game.^[1] For the season, he hit 22 home runs and drove in 71 runs, both career highs.

Newman was involved in the first of two bench clearing brawls with Lenny Randle and the Seattle Mariners on April 19, 1981.^[2] The A's won the first half of the strike shortened season with a 37-23 record to return to the postseason for the first time since 1975. In his only career trip to the postseason, Newman went hitless in nine plate appearances in the American League West division series and ALCS.

At the start of the 1982 Winter Meetings, the A's sent Newman and outfielder Tony Armas to the Boston Red Sox for Carney Lansford, Garry Hancock and minor leaguer Jerry King.^[3]

Boston Red Sox

When the Red Sox originally acquired Newman, it was with the intent that he would be the back up to Rich Gedman behind the plate, however, soon fell to third in the depth chart behind Gary Allenson. He was released during Spring training 1985.

Career stats

Newman had perhaps his greatest hitting success against Wayne Garland, against whom he was 13–18 (.722) with two home runs, six doubles and a walk. He made his only appearance on the mound on September 14, 1977. He pitched one scoreless inning, though he hit the first batter he faced (Hal McRae) with a pitch.^[4]

Coaching career

As soon as his playing days ended, Newman returned to the Oakland A's as manager Jackie Moore's bullpen coach. When Moore was fired as A's manager on June 28, 1986, Newman was named interim manager prior to the hiring of Tony La Russa.^[5] The A's went 2–8 under Newman. He remained a coach with the A's at the minor league level through 1991, being named the Southern League's Manager of the Year in 1989 while managing the Huntsville Stars.

He was Mike Hargrove's third base coach with the Cleveland Indians from 1992–1999, and served as the Baltimore Orioles' bench coach in 2000. He began wearing a tie for the first time in his career in 2002, serving as a field assistant for the Commissioner's Office of Major League Baseball until joining the Seattle Mariners as third base coach in 2005.^[6] An August Achilles injury requiring surgery prematurely ended his coaching career in Seattle.^[7]

Personal life

Newman is a convert to Judaism.^[8] His son, Ryan, was an infielder for three years in the Pittsburgh Pirates' organization before becoming a coach for the 2005 Gulf Coast League Pirates.

References

External links

• Career statistics and player information from MLB, or Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube, or Baseball-Reference (Minors), or Baseball Almanac, or Retrosheet, or Pura Pelota