Al Newman

Infobox MLB retired
bgcolor1=#c6011f
bgcolor2=#072764
textcolor1=white
textcolor2=white
name=Al Newman
position=Second Baseman, Shortstop
bats=Switch
throws=Right
birthdate=|birthdate=birth date and age|1960|6|30
debutdate=June 14
debutyear=1985
debutteam=Montreal Expos
finaldate=October 3
finalyear=1992
finalteam=Texas Rangers
stat1label=Batting average
stat1value=.226
stat2label=Hits
stat2value=476
stat3label=RBI
stat3value=156
teams=
*Montreal Expos (by|1985-by|1986)
*Minnesota Twins (by|1987-by|1991)
*Texas Rangers (by|1992)
highlights=
*Two-time World Series winner with the Minnesota Twins: 1987, 1991

Albert Dwayne (Al) Newman (born June 30, 1960 in Kansas City, Missouri) is a former infielder in Major League Baseball who played for the Montreal Expos (1985-1986), Minnesota Twins (1987-1991) and Texas Rangers (1992). Newman was a switch-hitter and threw right-handed.

Al Newman attended San Diego State University and majored in Accounting where he also played football at the position of running back. In 1980, 1981, and 1982, he played in the National Baseball Congress Tournament in Wichita, KS. Al Newman left college with two All-Conference seasons.

Drafted in the third round of the 1979 Major League Baseball amateur draft by the California Angels, Newman turned down their offer and returned to college. Again in 1980, Newman was drafted and declined contract offers, this time by the Texas Rangers. In 1980, he would be drafted again, this time in the secondary phase draft which occurs in June. The New York Mets offers were not enough, so Newman again chose to remain with his college team. A year later, on June 8, 1980, Al Newman was drafted 12th overall by the Montreal Expos, with whom he would sign his first Major League Baseball contract.

In the minor leagues, he was an All-Star second baseman during the 1982 season.

On December 7, 1983, still before his major league debut, Newman was traded in part of a large 3-time deal where the Montreal Expos would send Newman to the San Diego Padres and Scott Sanderson to the Chicago Cubs. Additionally, the San Diego Padres sent Gary Lucas to the Montreal Expos while the Chicago Cubs sent Carmelo Martinez, Craig Lefferts, and Fritzie Connally to the San Diego Padres. Just months later, on July 20, 1984, Al Newman was traded back to the Montreal Expos for Greg Harris.

Primarily a second baseman, Newman also played shortstop, third base and left field at some point in his career. He was used sparingly by the Expos from 1985-86. On July 6, 1986, Newman hit his only Major League home run; coincidentally in the same game that Bob Horner of the Atlanta Braves hit four home runs in one game. He hit that home run off of Zane Smith. Yes, sir. He did.

Newman saw more playing time after being traded to Minnesota before the 1987 season for minor league pitcher Mike Shade (who never made it to the major leagues). For the Twins, Newman proved a valuable utility and fast runner as a member of two World Championship teams in 1987 and 1991. His most productive season came in 1989 with the Twins, when he posted career-highs in stolen bases (25), hits (113), doubles (18), runs batted in (38), runs (62) and batting average (.253). Just after the 1991 World Series, where Newman went 2-4 with a triple, he was granted free agency by the Twins to the dismay of fans. Newman's popularity soared in Minnesota. Still today, his bobblehead trades on eBay for a hefty sum of over $30 USD.

After weighing his options, Newman signed with the Cincinnati Reds. Foolishly, the Reds released him just months later before the season had even begun. Newman was snatched up just 2 days later by the Texas Rangers in 1992 for his last major league season where in just 246 at-bats, Newman would amass 54 hits, 25 runs, 9 stolen bases, and 34 walks.

In an eight-season career, Newman was a .226 hitter with one home run and 156 RBI in 854 games. His hitting achievements are often compared to those of the late Skeeter Webb.

Following his playing career, Newman managed the Twins AA team, the New Britian Rock Cats of the Eastern League (Northern Division), for the 1996 and 1997 seasons. In 1996, his team finished dead last at 61-81, but showed improvement in 1997 posting a 70-72 record and finishing third to last. In the 1997 Arizona Fall League, Al managed the Sun City Solar Sox finishing second in their division with a 22-23 record. The following year, Al sat bench coach for the Salt City Buzz (Twins AAA affiliate) over their 1998 campaign. From there, Newman managed the Gulf Coast League Twins from 1999 to 2001. After a 33-32 record in 2000, Newman's coaching staff welcomed former 1991 World Series teammate, Jarvis Brown.

In 2002, when the great Tom Kelly retired as manager of the Twins, Al Newman accepted the job of third base coach, formerly occupied by Ron Gardenhire, who moved into the manager role. Newman coached for the Minnesota Twins from 2002-05 and became an advance scout with the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2006.

Today, Al Newman lives in Elko, Minnesota [http://kstp.com/article/stories/s169976.shtml?cat=63] and assistant coaches at the nearby Dakota County Technical College (DCTC) for the Blue Knights, sharing his invaluable life and baseball experiences with the team. In addition to contributing at DCTC as a coach, Al Newman acts as special events coordinator for the AFLAC Kids Program.

External links

* [http://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/Pnewma001.htm Retrosheet] - major league career

Sources