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No. 79: Greatest Angels of All-Time: Fred Newman

He had two dominant seasons

By BlakeHarris

Fred Newman

Time with Angels: 1962-1967

Stats: 33-39, 3.41 ERA, 108 G, 610 IP, 254 SO, 98 ERA+, 3.37 FIP, 1.22 WHIP

Baseball Reference WAR: 5.7

FanGraphs WAR: 7.9

Combined WAR: 6.8

Fred Newman spent his entire six-year career in Anaheim playing for the Angels. He threw six innings during his first season in 1962, and only six innings during his final season in 1967, so the chunk of his career was from 1963 through 1966. Even in 1963, Newman only threw 44 innings. So, let’s move on to 1964!

Alright, finally Newman showed what he can do. He appeared in 32 games, making 28 starts. Newman went 13-10 while posting an ERA of 2.75. Additionally, he posted an ERA+ of 120, a FIP of 3.07 and a WHIP of 1.14.

There was a 16 game stretch in which Newman was arguably the best starter in all of baseball. From May 30 through August 18, Newman went 8-4 with a 1.95 ERA. His strikeout-to-walk ratio was nearly three-to-one, and opponents only had a .580 OPS against him.

The next season, Newman was just as good. He won 14 games and had an earned run average of 2.93. I went more in-depth on that season, as it came in as the 93rd best season in Angels history. You can read more about it here, but i’ll include a piece from it.

Newman had a great start and a great finish to his season, with the middle portion being just average. Through April, his ERA was 2.22 and opponents were hitting only .210 off him. From May 2 through August 25 he was middle of the pack in the Angels rotation, as his ERA was 3.68 while an opponents average of .252. During that stretch he went 9-11.

He dominated to close out the season. Over his final seven starts, Newman posted a 1.08 ERA and held opponents to a .189 average. He threw five complete games during this stretch.

Newman struggled in 1966, only making 19 starts while posting an earned run average of just below five. The following season would be his last, as he’d only appear in three games. Injuries were too much to overcome, as he’d retire following the season.

Get caught up on the rest of the “All-Time Angels” lists!

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