Don Newcombe, RIP (1926-2019)

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Don Newcombe and 1955 Dodgers Photo Gallery
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Don Newcombe, RIP (1926-2019)

“Don Newcombe’s influence on me is beyond words. I can’t even tell you how huge it was for me to meet him at the time I did in my career.” –Former major league ace pitcher, Dave Stewart

Here at Old-Time Baseball Photos we would be remiss in our duty if we let the day go by without biding a sad farewell to the great Dodger pitcher, Don Newcombe, who passed away yesterday at age 92; and recalling some of the highlights of his remarkable career. It’s a career replete with many truly historic achievements.

With the passing of Don Newcombe, a magnificent chapter in baseball history – the “Boys of Summer” – is slowly drawing to its conclusion.

And what a chapter is was! Will baseball ever see its likes again? Just writing out these names and recalling the glory days of the 1950s – one of baseball’s truly Golden Eras  – brings tears to the eyes, along with pangs of nostalgia, to old baseball fans like me:

Clem Labine, George Shuba, Andy Pafko, Joe Black, Preacher Roe, Pee Wee Reese, Carl Furillo, Gil Hodges, Roy Campanella, Duke Snider, Jackie Robinson, Billy Cox.

And now we sadly add the name Don Newcombe to the list. They’re all gone now. Ninety-two year old Carl Erskine, “Oisk,” is the only one left. And with them goes a big part of us too…

In the featured photo above, we see Don Newcombe along with Hall-of-Fame teammates Roy Campanella and Jackie Robinson. 

Don Newcombe was one of the last surviving players from the Negro Leagues, pitching for the Newark Eagles in 1944 at age 18. In 1945, he had an 8-3 record with the Eagles and caught the attention of baseball’s iconic pioneer, Branch Rickey. 

Debuting with the Dodgers on May 20, 1949, the 6’4″ 225-pound right hander pitched 10 seasons in the majors (1949-1960) with two years lost to military service during the Korean War. He played for the Dodgers (1949-’51, 1954-’58), Reds (1958-’60), and Indians (1960). He also played a year in Japan with the Chunichi Dragons (1962).

Over his career the four-time All-Star went 149-90 (.623), with a 3.56 ERA, 1,129 strikeouts, 136 complete games, 24 shutouts, and 2,154 innings pitched. In addition he was an excellent hitting pitcher – often used as a pinch hitter – with a .276 batting average (9^th best in history), 15 home runs, 108 RBIs, and 238 hits.

His best seasons came in 1955 and 1956, leading the league both years in winning percentage.  In ’55 we went 20-5 (.800) with a 3.20 ERA, helping the team to a pennant and the franchise’s first World Series championship. In ’56 he went 27-7 (.794) with a 3.06 ERA and another pennant. His 27 wins led the league.

But the dry statistics don’t tell the complete story of Don Newcombe’s outstanding, often overlooked, career. It’s one that includes many “firsts”:

• In 1946, along with the great Roy Campanella, Don played on the first fully integrated team in the United States, the Nashua Dodgers.
• In May, 1949, Newk became the third African American pitcher in the major leagues, after Dan Bankhead and Satchel Paige.
• In 1949, he was among the first four black players to be named to an All-Star team, along with teammates Jackie Robinson and Roy Campanella and the Indians’ Larry Doby, also winning Rookie of the Year honors.
• In 1950, he won 19 games, and 20 the following season, also leading the league in strikeouts in 1951.
• Don helped the Dodgers to the pennant in 1951, winning 17 games, leading the league in shutouts, and pitching at one point 32 consecutive scoreless innings.
• In 1951, he became the first black pitcher to start a World Series game, also becoming the first black pitcher to win twenty games in one season.
• In 1956, the inaugural year of the Cy Young Award (when only one award was given for both leagues), Don was the first pitcher to win Most Valuable Player and Cy Young Awards in the same season.
• Don Newcombe was the first pitcher to win the Rookie of the Year, Most Valuable Player, and Cy Young Awards during his career (an achievement matched by Justin Verlander in 2011).

Many baseball history fans will recall that Newk was on the mound in the ninth inning of Game Three in the 1951 playoff series between the Dodgers and Giants at the Polo Grounds. Manager Charlie Dressen thought he was tired and brought in Ralph Branca to face Bobby Thomson. Newk was in the showers as Thomson launched the “Shot Heard ‘Round the World” into the left field stands, giving the Giants the 1951 pennant.

Don Newcombe’s life was not without its tragedies. The demons of alcoholism nearly destroyed him. At one time he describe himself as “a stupefied, wife-abusing, child-frightening, falling-down drunk.”

But he overcame the addiction and stopped drinking in 1966 after his wife threatened to leave him. He reformed himself; and from then on, he became a mentor to both military personnel and ball players, including Maury Wills, who were struggling with substance abuse. In addition, he always made himself available to young Dodgers players for advice and counseling, often having a major impact on their lives, as the above quote from Dave Stewart attests.

Don rejoined the Dodgers in the late 1970s and served as the team’s Director of Community Affairs. In March 2009, he was named special adviser to the chairman of the team.

Baseball lost a good man this week when we learned that Don Newcombe passed away. He was a great pitcher, an even better man, and one of the game’s true racial pioneers. He, along with the other “Boys of Summer” are gone now…but they will live forever in our hearts.

Baseball gave a lot to Don Newcombe, but he gave back much, much more…

May he Rest in Peace.

Gary Livacari 

Photo Credits: All from Google search

Information: Excerpts edited from Don Newcombe Wikipedia page

Countdown until Opening Day, March 28, 2019:    days and counting!

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