From Melrose To Cooperstown: Local Man Has Part Of Baseball Lore

MELROSE, MA — Howie Newman isn't a Baseball Hall of Famer. But he's closer than a lot of us.

Newman, a longtime Melrose resident, has a small claim to baseball's storied history. Small enough, in fact, to fit on the back of a bumper sticker.

"Dump the DH" reads a blue bumper sticker enshrined in Cooperstown, N.Y. It's a piece of the designated hitter exhibit at the Hall, chronicling Newman's impassioned attempt at getting baseball to, well, dump the DH in the mid-80s.

Newman's an admitted old-timer when it comes to America's pastime — a traditionalist, as all good baseball men of a certain generation are. He thinks the DH position, first introduced in the American League in 1973, saps baseball of a certain strategic element.

So when Baseball Commissioner Peter Ueberroth announced in 1985 he would poll fans on the DH, Newman did what any rational baseball fan would do: He launched a nationwide campaign to rid the sport of the plight of the designated hitter.

Newman, a sportswriter at the time (and one-time sports editor of the Melrose Free Press,) printed 2,000 "Dump the DH" bumper stickers and brochures and sent them to media outlets across the country.

"Keep in mind there was no email back then," Newman said in an email. "It was a lot of stamps and envelopes."

Newman had himself a hit. The campaign was picked up by Sports Illustrated, The New York Times and other national magazines and newspapers. He sold well over 1,000 "Dump the DH" kits across the globe.

The Melrosian even found himself pleading his case on dozens of radio shows, a TBS feature slot and as a guest with Johnny Most on the now-defunct SportsChannel.

Now Newman, who has traded in his typewriter for a microphone, includes a "Dump the DH" segment in his Musical Baseball Show, which performs around the Boston area. He even brought it to his hometown's Milano Center over the past few years.

"I know it’s heresy to talk about that here in Boston, where David Ortiz was such a big part of three championships," Newman said.

Of course, Red Sox fans are likely happy Newman's efforts didn't pan out. It was from the DH position where David Ortiz delivered countless clutch hits in leading Boston to three World Series championships.

"The campaign didn’t accomplish its goal and I’m sure a lot of people in New England are relieved about that," Newman said. "Eliminating the DH could have changed the entire course of Red Sox history."

Still, Newman carved out a space in the expansive, revered history of Major League Baseball. That's got to count for something.

"But I had a lot of fun with it and learned quite a bit about doing P.R.," he said. "And I’m in the Hall of Fame. Can’t beat that."

Mike Carraggi can be reached at mike.carraggi@patch.com. Follow him on Twitter @PatchCarraggi and Instagram at Melrose Happening. Subscribe to Melrose Patch for free local news and alerts and like us on Facebook.