Bobo Newsom Marquee

b. August 11, 1907 · Brooklyn Robins 1929–1930, Chicago Cubs 1932, St. Louis Browns 1934–1935, 1938–1939, 1943, Washington Senators 1935–1937, 1942–1943, 1946–1947, 1952, Boston Red Sox 1937, Detroit Tigers 1939–1941, Brooklyn Dodgers 1942–1943, Philadelphia Athletics 1944–1946, 1952–1953, New York Yankees 1947, New York Giants 1948

He won 211 games and lost 222 — one of only a handful of pitchers to reach 200 wins with a losing record — across twenty seasons, 3,759 innings and 246 complete games. He lost twenty or more in three seasons and won twenty or more in three others, sometimes consecutively: 20-16 in 1938 for a St. Louis club that lost 92, then 20-11, then 21-5.

The moving is what he is remembered for. He played for nine franchises and joined Washington on five separate occasions, which nobody else has done with any club. He called everyone Bobo, including himself, and it became his name.

He won two games in the 1940 World Series for Detroit, pitching the fifth on the day after his father died and the seventh on one day's rest, and lost the seventh 2-1. Four All-Star selections. He was on twelve writers' ballots between 1960 and 1973 without ever passing 33 votes.

Honors

Award	Times	Years
All-Star selection	4	1938, 1939, 1940, 1944
Baseball Magazine All-Star	2	1938, 1940

Batting, season by season

Year	Team	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	SB	AVG
1929	BRO	3	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	.000
1930	BRO	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	—
1932	CHC	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	—
1934	SLB	50	93	6	17	2	0	0	8	2	10	0	.183
1935	SLB/WSH	35	84	6	23	2	1	0	10	3	9	1	.274
1936	WSH	44	108	11	23	2	0	0	11	3	23	0	.213
1937	BOS/WSH	44	100	11	22	4	1	1	5	3	18	0	.220
1938	SLB	46	124	9	31	4	0	0	16	1	21	0	.250
1939	DET/SLB	41	115	6	22	1	1	0	8	1	18	0	.191
1940	DET	36	107	9	23	5	0	0	16	1	17	0	.215
1941	DET	43	88	3	9	0	0	0	3	2	20	0	.102
1942	BRO/WSH	36	86	5	12	2	0	0	3	0	30	0	.140
1943	BRO/SLB/WSH	38	74	4	18	0	0	0	9	0	12	0	.243
1944	PHA	37	88	4	10	2	0	0	2	0	20	0	.114
1945	PHA	36	86	3	14	1	0	0	2	1	21	0	.163
1946	PHA/WSH	34	81	5	12	1	0	0	4	0	20	0	.148
1947	NYY/WSH	31	71	1	11	2	0	0	4	0	17	0	.155
1948	NYG	11	7	2	3	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	.429
1952	PHA/WSH	24	17	0	2	0	0	0	1	0	7	0	.118
1953	PHA	17	6	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	.167
Career	—	609	1337	86	253	28	3	1	102	17	266	1	.189

Pitching, season by season

Year	Team	W	L	G	GS	SV	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA
1929	BRO	0	3	3	2	0	9.1	15	11	5	6	10.61
1930	BRO	0	0	2	0	0	3.0	2	0	2	1	0.00
1932	CHC	0	0	1	0	0	1.0	1	0	0	0	0.00
1934	SLB	16	20	47	32	5	262.1	259	117	149	135	4.01
1935	SLB/WSH	11	18	35	29	3	241.0	276	121	97	87	4.52
1936	WSH	17	15	43	38	2	285.2	294	137	146	156	4.32
1937	BOS/WSH	16	14	41	37	0	275.1	269	147	167	166	4.81
1938	SLB	20	16	44	40	1	329.2	334	186	192	226	5.08
1939	DET/SLB	20	11	41	37	2	291.2	272	116	126	192	3.58
1940	DET	21	5	36	34	0	264.0	235	83	100	164	2.83
1941	DET	12	20	43	36	2	250.1	265	128	118	175	4.60
1942	BRO/WSH	13	19	36	34	0	245.2	264	129	106	134	4.73
1943	BRO/SLB/WSH	13	13	38	27	1	217.1	220	102	113	123	4.22
1944	PHA	13	15	37	33	1	265.0	243	83	82	142	2.82
1945	PHA	8	20	36	34	0	257.1	255	94	103	127	3.29
1946	PHA/WSH	14	13	34	31	1	236.2	224	77	90	114	2.93
1947	NYY/WSH	11	11	31	28	0	199.1	208	74	67	82	3.34
1948	NYG	0	4	11	4	0	25.2	35	12	13	9	4.21
1952	PHA/WSH	4	4	24	5	3	60.1	54	26	32	27	3.88
1953	PHA	2	1	17	2	0	38.2	44	21	24	16	4.89
Career	—	211	222	600	483	21	3759.1	3769	1664	1732	2082	3.98

On this day & linked events

1907

Born August 11, 1907

Hartsville, SC, USA

1962

Died December 7, 1962

1929

Major-league debut: Bobo Newsom

Bobo Newsom made a major-league debut on September 11, 1929.

1953

Final major-league game: Bobo Newsom

Bobo Newsom played a final major-league game on September 17, 1953.

Image: Los Angeles Times, CC BY 4.0