Minor Leagues
Newhan was drafted by the Oakland Athletics as an outfielder in the 17th round of the 1995 amateur draft.
He was primarily considered an outfielder until his second pro season in 1996, when then Single-A Modesto A's manager Jim Colborn, now the Texas Rangers bullpen coach, found himself in need of an infielder after the team's second baseman was injured. The night of the injury, Colborn walked through the team's parking lot and noticed a car with the license plate: "LV2TRN2." The next day, Colborn asked the team which player had that particular license plate. Newhan raised his hand. "Get your infield glove, you're going to be a second baseman," Colborn said. Newhan hit .301 that season, with a .538 slugging percentage, 25 home runs, and 17 stolen bases in 117 games.
In three years in the Athletics' minor league system, Newhan never made his way higher than Oakland's Single-A team, and despite signs of improvement, was traded with Don Wengert to the San Diego Padres organization for Jorge Velandia and Doug Bochtler in November 1997.
Newhan batted .277 over two seasons with San Diego's Double-A team. He was promoted to the Padres' Triple-A team before the 1999 season where, over 98 games, he batted .286 with 22 stolen bases.
Through 2008, his minor league batting line was .290/.369/.464, with 109 home runs in 3,331 at bats.
The Philadelphia Phillies added Newhan to their triple-A Lehigh Valley IronPigs team as a player-coach in April 2009, and he hit .275 for their AAA team while playing first base, second base, shortstop, third base, and the outfield.
Read more about this topic: David Newhan
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