John Newman, who played for the 55 Twins for 8 seasons and moved to the 62 Arachnids this season has lost his battle with pancreatic cancer. John last played for the Arachnids on June 5 at Watervliet High School. An outstanding pitcher and all around top level baseball and basketball player. He was our ace, a game changer, our steadiest of hands. Johns last question to me on June 28 was How is the team doing ? John was a retired police officer in Suffolk County, Long Island. He also was the baseball coach at St. Anthony's High School in South Huntington, Long Island for 35 years. John was soft spoken and as nice a person you could meet and understood the game with amazing clarity. He wanted me to let people know how much he loved playing baseball in the CDMSBL. He had a cottage in Gilboa and thats where I first met him. When we walked off the field in Watervliet in June he said to me that we might not see him again. I said what words of encouragement I could think of, but, I knew he was probably right even though he was still waiting for a solid diagnosis. Those of us who were his teammates just didnt think it would happen so quickly. Both the Twins and Arachnids dedicate the rest of this season to John Newman who leaves a wife , 3 grown children and a 13 year old daughter. He was 67 years old.
-- Edited by crowbait on Friday 21st of July 2023 07:14:46 AM
-- Edited by crowbait on Friday 21st of July 2023 07:22:45 AM
You're right, Jim, so very sad news. I competed against John only once, a few years back. What a fastball he had. He was the winning pitcher that night and I congratulated him afterwards. He was pleasant, low key but engaging, too. We've lost a fine athlete, and, it seems, a finer man. I'm very sorry for him, his family and his teammates. - Mike
Kind words Mike Hart. Thank you. In past years, this is the part of the summer where we would lose John Newman for 2 weeks because every year he would volunteer his time to teach basketball fundamentals to school age children.
