Newhouser, Ex-Umpire Voted Into Hall of Fame

Left-hander Hal Newhouser, one of baseball’s dominant pitchers with the Detroit Tigers in the 1940s, and Bill McGowan, who umpired in the American League, have been elected to the Hall of Fame by the veterans committee.

Newhouser, who will turn 71 next month, who recently celebrated his 50th wedding anniversary, told the Associated Press Tuesday that he was able to break the news of his selection to his 95-year-old mother.

“I said, ‘Mom. Are you sitting down?’ She said, ‘Yes, what’s wrong, Harold?’ I said, ‘How would you like to go to Cooperstown.’ She began to cry. Then she said, ‘I guess I’ll have to buy a new dress.’ ”

Newhouser, who had a record of 207-150 and was the only major league pitcher to be named most valuable player in successive seasons, 1944 and ‘45, and McGowan, who died in 1954, will be inducted this summer along with former pitchers Tom Seaver and Rollie Fingers.