Daniel Newman (minors02)

Daniel David Newman

• Bats Left, Throws Left
• Height 6' 1", Weight 188 lb.

• Schools University of San Diego, San Diego City College
• High School Kearny High School

• Born January 18, 1964 in Cleveland, OH USA

BR Minors page

Biographical Information

Daniel Newman spent two seasons in the minors then went on to become one of the top hurlers in Italy's Serie A1. Becoming a naturalized Italian citizen, he represented Italy in the Olympics at age 36.

1987-1988: Minors

Newman was undrafted out of college and signed with the Houston Astros. He dominated for the 1987 GCL Astros, going 7-2 with a 1.41 ERA and a 0.87 WHIP. He was second in the Gulf Coast League in ERA (behind Chris Lee) and tied for the most wins (with Bruce Colson, Carl Nordstrom and Greg Karklins). He was named the league's All-Star starting pitcher. In 1988, he was 6-7 with two saves and a 4.17 ERA for the 1988 Asheville Tourists.

1989-1998: First decade in Italy

Newman then moved to Italy, where he would pitch for over two decades and find a wife. In 1989, he was a pitcher, first baseman and outfielder for Novara, hitting .402/.477/.643 with 31 runs in 38 games. On the hill, he had a 6-7, 2.10 record. He was 24 points behind batting average leader Giuseppe Carelli. In 1990, the 26-year-old batted .414/.500/.672 as Roma's starting center fielder. He stole 29 bases in 34 tries, legged out 12 triples, scored 54 and drove in 56 in 61 games. He set a Serie A1 record for triples (which still stood as of 2010) and finished second in steals behind Ernesto Gomez. He also was sound on the mound at 14-6, 2.73 with 168 strikeouts in 178 innings. The next year, he struggled on both ends for Roma - .266/.333/.328; 5-7, 4.55.

In 1992, the Cleveland native hit .396/.464/.660 for the Black Panthers Ronchi, driving in 41 in 36 games. He was 12-4 with a 2.01 ERA, fanning 169 in 156 2/3 innings and allowing a .202/.258/.295 batting line. He played for Riccione in the Italian minors in 1993 (.436/.547/.590, 20 SB, 1 CS; 4-11, 2.78, 179 K to 39 BB in 139 IP) and did not appear in 1994. In '95, he was an outfielder-pitcher for Verona and produced at a .393/.435/.519 clip. He was 7-7 with a save and a 3.89 ERA, striking out 114 in 127 1/3 innings. He was 34 points shy of Jessie Reid in the batting race. During the 1996 campaign, his batting line for Verona was .348/.411/.562. He went 15-for-17 in steal attempts and had 41 runs and 44 RBI in 48 games. As a pitcher, he was 7-9 with a 2.91 ERA, striking out 124 and walking 35.

The San Diego alumnus returned to Ronchi in 1997 and hit .333/.449/.493 while struggling to a 5-11, 3.89 record. In 1998, he produced at a .385/.486/.615 line for Milano and went 6-6 with a 3.68 ERA. With former and current pros being allowed on the international stage, Newman joined the Italian national team that year. He was 3 for 7 with a double and a walk as a bench player in the 1998 Baseball World Cup. He also pitched, going 0-1 with a save and a 5.79 ERA, walking 9 and fanning a team-high 13 in 14 innings. He dropped a decision to Eiji Yano of Japan and tossed 3 shutout innings to save Massimiliano Masin's 5-4 win over Panama. He did not appear in the Bronze Medal game, which Italy lost despite a valiant effort by Diego Ricci.

1999-2009: European Championship MVP, Olympics, winding down

The left-hander had a 7-2, 1.48 record for Parma in 1999, finally playing for one of Italy's better teams in his 11th year in the country. He struck out 89 in 85 innings while walking only 17. He allowed a .196/.239/.247 batting line while hitting .250/.377/.410 himself. He finished 7th in strikeouts and third in ERA behind Tom Urbani and Emiliano Ginanneschi. In the 1999 European Cup, he was named Best Hitter as Parma won it. He did not pitch in the 1999 European Championship but put on an offensive show, hitting .478/.600/.739 with 9 runs and 9 RBI in 7 games as Italy's right fielder. Italy won the Silver Medal and Newman won both the All-Star RF spot as well as the [[ tournament MVP. He led the first round in average (.067 over former major leaguer Rikkert Faneyte), tied Faneyte for the best slugging, was third in OBP (behind Faneyte and Liverziani), tied for 4th in runs and tied for 2nd in RBI (with Jiří Víšek, Alberto D'Auria and Faneyte, trailing Manuel Gasparri).

In 2000, Newman was 10-5 with a 2.71 ERA and 24 walks in 106 1/3 innings. He was 12 for 53 with 2 doubles, a homer and 7 walks. He tied Otis Green for third in the league in wins, two shy of co-leaders Jason Simontacchi and Juan Carlos Vigna. He appeared three times in the 2000 Olympics. He ended a 4-2 loss to Team USA, pinch-hitting for Daniele Frignani and being retired by Todd Williams. He started and lost to South Korea and also pitched in relief once. For the Olympics, he was 0-1 with a 3.12 ERA, allowing 9 runs (3 earned) in 8 2/3 innings. He struck out 9 batters, one shy of team leader Simontacchi.

Daniel moved to Bologna in 2001 and hit .318/.371/.530. As a pitcher, he was 11-4 with a 2.51 ERA and a .226/.287/.312 opponent batting line. He tied Walter Cossutta and Riccardo De Santis for the league lead in wins and was 9th with 108 strikeouts, between Green and Cossutta. His six homers also tied him for 10th in the league. In the 2001 European Championship, he tossed five shutout innings and got a win. At the plate, he was 0 for 3 with a walk. He was 0 for 1 in the stunning 2-0 semifinal loss to Russia, pinch-hitting for Gasparri and being retired by Oleg Korneev. In the Bronze Medal game, he drew a walk and scored a run off the bench in a 7-0 romp past France.

The 38-year-old veteran remained a two-way threat for Bologna in 2002, batting .310/.398/.437. He was 10-2 with a 2.31 ERA and a .200/.278/.263 opponent batting line. He finished among the league leaders in wins (tied for third, trailing Otoniel Lanfranco and Joseph Moceri), ERA (7th) and strikeouts (tied for 9th with Cipriano Ventura). In '03, he stopped playing regularly on offense at age 39 (going 4 for 20 with a double and a walk). His ERA rose to 4.45 but his record remained sharp at 10-4 for Bologna. He was second in A1 in wins, trailing Rolando Cretis by 3. In the finals, he won his only decision, allowing four runs in six innings, as he and Fabio Milano (save) combined to stop Modena in game 5 (the last contest) and give Bologna the title. It was Newman's first Serie A1 title since coming to Italy 14 years earlier. One of his teammates was another American whose name started with Da, was also over 40 years old, had also become a naturalized citizen and who also had been a former minor leaguer - David Sheldon.

In 2004, the old-timer returned to Parma for a second stint. He was 4 for 21 with a double and a walk; he also was 6-2 with two saves, a 2.28 ERA and a .201/.268/.268 opponent line. He then spent three seasons with T&A San Marino. He was 9-2 with 3 saves and a 2.71 ERA (he also had 3 singles and 2 doubles in 29 at-bats and drew four walks). He tied Jesus Matos for 7th in the league in victories. He was 1-0 with a 1.08 ERA in the finals as San Marino fell to his old Bologna club. He saved game two in relief of future Cubs farmhand Alessandro Maestri and won game 5 in relief of Maestri. In game 7, he allowed one run in two innings in relief to a 2-0 loss to Matos.

Newman fell to 5-3, 4.02 with San Marino in 2006 and had a 1-1, 4.60 record for them in 2007. He spent 2008 in the Italian minors (Serie B) with Verona (23 K, 2 H, 5 BB in 14 IP; .409/.525/.602, 32 R, 33 RBI in 34 G). He returned to Italy's top level in 2009 with his old Parma club, going 4-1 with a save and a 4.94 ERA.

Career Statistics

Overall, Danny was 13-9 with two saves and a 3.02 ERA in 39 minor league games. In Italy, he was 146-100 with 10 saves and a 3.06 ERA, striking out 1,867 in 2,035 1/3 innings. Opponents hit .230/.300/.321. He also batted .347/.430/.530 with 363 runs and 333 RBI in 723 games. He stole 119 bases in 149 tries. Through 2011, he was 14th in Italian history in average (between Giampiero Faraone and Ruggero Bagialemani), 16th in OBP, tied for 18th in slugging, 46th in steals, 7th in wins (between Umberto Calzolari and Maurizio De Sanctis), 8th in pitching appearances (358, between De Sanctis and Masin) 11th in complete games (90), 6th in innings (between legends Giulio Glorioso and Paolo Ceccaroli) and 3rd in strikeouts (behind Glorioso and Roberto Cabalisti).

Sources

• Italian Baseball and Softball Federation
• Baseball.it
• Defunct IBAF site
• International baseball scorer Harry Wedemeijer
• 1988 Baseball Almanac