Memories of a Big-Leaguer
© 2001 by Don Upchurch
One of the most noted baseball players from Ahoskie was Heber "Dick" Newsome.
Heber Dick, as he was called back home, pitched practically all the 1930s for Sacramento, Calif., in the Pacific Coast League. The Coast wasn't "big league" but they had some of the best players in the country under the "farm system" operated by the major leagues at the time, when the young men had to sign their lives away to one team.
Around 1940 Heber Dick went "up" from Sacramento to the Boston Red Sox, where he posted a respectable big-league record for several years.
His name really was put into the books by Joe DiMaggio. When "Joltin' Joe" was headed for his 56-game hitting streak, he had to pass the earlier record of 44 set by Willie Keeler. Joe had to hit safely in his 45th.
The pitcher for the Red Sox against the Yankees that day ~ who shut down DiMag until his last at-bat of the game ~ was Heber Dick. It's in the books, including DiMaggio's.
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I grew up playing baseball on Dick Newsome's vacant lot beside his house on West Street in Ahoskie. At the age of 12, I had no idea of his fame, and neither did most of my buddies.
In spite of an occasional broken window, he always encouraged the neighborhood boys to play ball there. He had a picnic table behind his house and would come out at times and watch us play. I guess he may have seen a little of himself in us. We never realized that had it been anyone else's lot, we surely would have been chased away.
We called the place "Dickie's Lot," and many times we would say to each other, "Let's go play baseball at Dickie's Lot." We never knew the origin of the name, except that we called it that. I guess it was named for his son Dickie.
One day we were playing and Mr. Newsome ~ as we called him ~ came out with a cardboard box full of shellacked baseballs.
We gathered at the picnic table as he showed us the signatures on the balls ~ some signed by entire teams, some signed by individuals. I still can see the names as he pointed them out ~ names like Babe Ruth ~ Joe DiMaggio ~ Willie Mays ~ and many more that I can't remember. I was familiar with those names and to say the least I was impressed.
I also remember when he died in an automobile wreck on Highway 11, between Murfreesboro and Ahoskie.
I remember being very upset that such a wonderful man would lose his life in such a manner ~ one of the first adult friends to me and my buddies.
Trees shade the basepaths
on "Dickie's Lot" today
Don Upchurch photo
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