Eric Newman

Eric Christian Newman

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 4", Weight 200 lb.
• School Dallas Baptist University, Fresno State University, Texas Tech University
• High School Mission High School
• Born August 27, 1972 in Lake Forest, IL USA

BR minors page

Biographical Information

Eric Newman reached AAA as a pitcher before becoming a college coach.

Playing

Newman was taken by the San Diego Padres in the 5th round of the 1994 amateur draft, in between Ryan Drese and Steve Woodard. He was the third college pitcher San Diego took that year, following Dustin Hermanson and Heath Murray. He had gone 5-3 with a 3.90 ERA his last year at Texas Tech, allowing only 45 hits in 60 innings but walking 35. Eric did not pitch as a pro that summer. He split 1995 between the Idaho Falls Braves (8-4, 4.41) and Clinton Lumber Kings (1-7, 7.65, 38 BB in 42 1/3 IP).

Returning to Clinton in 1996, he had a 5-7, 4.29 record and one save, walking 67 and throwing 13 wild pitches in 113 1/3 innings. The next year, he improved to 13-6, 4.15 for the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes, whiffing 141 but walking 73 in 123 2/3 innings pitched. He was one win shy of California League co-leaders Jeff Sobkoviak and J.J. Pearsall. He was 5th in strikeouts and tied for 6th in walks. In 1998, he moved up to the Mobile Bay Bears but struggled at 9-12, 5.59. He tossed 17 wild pitches, one shy of the Southern League lead.

Moving to the Chicago Cubs chain, the right-hander also became a full-time reliever. He fared well in 1999 with the West Tenn Diamond Jaxx (5-3, 8 Sv, 3.20, 61 H, 49 BB, 90 K in 84 1/3 IP). In 2000, he made it to AAA with the Iowa Cubs but did not do as well (3-5, 5.47, 52 BB in 79 IP). He bounced around in 2001, appearing for the Arizona Diamondbacks' El Paso Diablos club (0-1, Sv, 8.84, 2.13 WHIP, 20 K in 18 1/3 IP), the Acereros de Monclova (0-2, 6 Sv, 5.06) in Mexico and the Sonoma County Crushers (0-1, 5 R in 4 IP). In 2002, he wrapped up his pro career, playing for the Solano Steelheads (1-0, Sv, 6.17, 10 BB in 11 2/3 IP), Sonoma County (0-2, 10.34) and the Vero Beach Dodgers (1-1, 3.86), for whom he was a player-coach.

Overall, Newman had a 46-51, 5.03 record and 17 saves in 255 games in pro ball. He walked 436 and struck out 694 in 738 2/3 innings.

Coaching

Newman then became a coach at the college level. He was pitching coach at Dallas Baptist University from 2002-2004, helping develop Lance Broadway and the team win two NCCAA titles. He became head coach in 2005 and was 95-72 in three years at that role. He served as pitching coach for the University of Nebraska from 2008-2011 before becoming head coach at the University of California, San Diego.

Sources

• Assorted Baseball Almanacs
• UCSD