Editing Hal Newhouser (section)

==Early life==
Harold "Hal" Newhouser was born on May 20, 1921, in [[Detroit]], Michigan. He was the second son of Theodore and Emilie Newhouser. Theodore, originally from [[Czechoslovakia]], worked as a drafter in the automobile industry and was a former gymnast, while Emilie was originally from [[Austria]]. Prior to Hal's birth, the Newhousers moved from [[Pittsburgh]] to Detroit. The Newhouser parents were largely indifferent about baseball, even after Hal's older brother of four years, Dick, was discovered by [[Detroit Tigers]] scout [[Wish Egan]] and spent a couple years for the team's [[Minor League Baseball|minor league affiliates]].<ref name="stewart211">{{Harvnb|Stewart|2014|p=211}}</ref> During the [[Great Depression]], Newhouser sold newspapers, set up pins at a bowling alley, and collected plastic bottles to recycle to save up money to attend trade school.<ref name="obit">{{cite news |last1=Goldstein |first1=Richard |author-link1=Richard Goldstein (writer, born 1942)|title=Hal Newhouser, 77, a Hall of Fame Pitcher |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1998/11/11/794562.html?pageNumber=37 |access-date=March 26, 2025 |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=November 11, 1998}}</ref>

As a teenager, Newhouser played in a fast-pitch [[softball]] league, but upon the Tigers' win in the [[1935 World Series]], Newhouser decided he wanted to pitch for his hometown major league team. At the age of fifteen, he started pitching in a [[sandlot ball]] league for the first time. Over the course of three seasons, he recorded 42 wins and 3 losses. While attending [[Murray–Wright High School|Wilbur Wright Vocational High School]], he started off playing for the school's baseball team. Egan, who took notice of Hal's athletic ability while scouting Dick, convinced him to drop that team and play [[American Legion Baseball]] instead. Newhouser did well against the improved competition in Legion play. He recorded nineteen consecutive wins in one stretch, including striking out 20 or more hitters in a game five times.<ref name="stewart211-212">{{Harvnb|Stewart|2014|p=211–212}}</ref>
{{quote box|"I knew when I was fifteen I was going to play in the big leagues. No doubt in my mind."
| source = —Newhouser, November 1984<ref name="macht183">{{Harvnb|Macht|2019|p=183}}</ref>
| align = left
| width = 25%
}}

While at [[Murray–Wright High School|Wilbur Wright Vocational High School]] in [[Detroit]], Newhouser picked up [[machining]]. While he was a talented machinist, Newhouser found it too risky, especially after having to drive numerous classmates to the hospital due to injuries they had sustained. Instead, Newhouser studied to become a [[drafter]] at [[Chrysler]], where his father worked. While pitching in the [[minor leagues]], Newhouser would study for his exams, which he would take in September when the major league Tigers called him up. When he was invited to [[spring training]] for the team in 1940, he fell behind in his studies and was held back from graduating with the rest of his classmates in June of 1940. Starting in September of that year, he would spend three hours each morning at school before reporting to [[Briggs Stadium]], including prior to [[1940 World Series]] games. He graduated in January 1941.<ref name="macht183-184">{{Harvnb|Macht|2019|p=183–184}}</ref>