Don Newcombe

Early life

Newcombe was born in Madison, New Jersey, on June 14, 1926, and was raised in Elizabeth. He had three brothers and a sister. His father worked as a chauffeur.

Newcombe attended Jefferson High School in Elizabeth. The school did not have a baseball team, so Newcombe played semi-professional baseball while attending high school.

Career

After playing briefly with the Newark Eagles in the Negro National League in 1944 and 1945, Newcombe signed with the Dodgers. With catcher Roy Campanella, Newcombe played for the first racially integrated baseball team based in the United States in the 20th century, the 1946 Nashua Dodgers of the New England League. He continued to play for Nashua in 1947 before being promoted to the Montreal Royals of the Triple-A International League in 1948.

Newcombe debuted for Brooklyn on May 20, 1949, becoming the third African American pitcher in the major leagues, after Dan Bankhead and Satchel Paige. Effa Manley, business manager for the Eagles, agreed to let the Dodgers' Branch Rickey sign Newcombe to a contract. Manley was not compensated for the release of Newcombe. He immediately helped the Dodgers to the league pennant as he earned seventeen victories, led the league in shutouts, and pitched 32 consecutive scoreless innings. He was also 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. Newcombe was named Rookie of the Year by both The Sporting News and the Baseball Writers' Association of America. In the memorable playoff game between the Dodgers and the Giants at the end of the 1951 season, Newcombe was relieved by Ralph Branca in the bottom of the ninth inning when Clyde Sukeforth instructed manager Chuck Dressen to bring in Branca. Branca then surrendered the walk-off home run to Bobby Thomson to give the Giants the pennant.

After two years of mandatory military duty during the Korean War, Newcombe suffered a disappointing season in 1954, going 9–8 with a 4.55 earned run average, but returned to form the next year by finishing second in the NL in both wins and earned run average, with marks of 20–5 and 3.20, as the Dodgers won their first World Series in franchise history. He had an even greater 1956 season, with marks of 27–7, 139 strikeouts, and a 3.06 ERA, five shutouts and 18 complete games, leading the league in winning percentage for the second year in a row. He was named the National League's MVP, and was awarded the first-ever Cy Young Award, then given to the best pitcher in the combined major leagues. He was the only player to win MVP, Cy Young and Rookie of the Year awards until Justin Verlander accomplished the feat in 2011. Newcombe had a difficult time in the 1956 World Series. He was the losing pitcher in Game 7. Berra, who hit three home runs off of him in the series, hit two of them in Game 7. The Yankees and Johnny Kucks won 9–0.

Following the Dodgers' move to Los Angeles, Newcombe got off to an 0–6 start in 1958 before being traded to the Cincinnati Reds for Steve Bilko, Johnny Klippstein, and two players to be named later during the season.

On May 28, 1962, Newcombe signed with the Chunichi Dragons of Nippon Professional Baseball's Central League. Newcombe played one season in Japan, splitting time as an outfielder and a first baseman, only pitching in one game. In 81 games, he hit .262 with 12 home runs and 43 runs batted in (RBIs).

In his ten-year major league career, Newcombe registered a record of 149–90, with 1,129 strikeouts and a 3.56 ERA, 136 complete games and 24 shutouts in 2,154 innings pitched. In addition to his pitching abilities, Newcombe was a dangerous hitter, hitting seven home runs in the 1955 season. He batted .271 (ninth-best average in history among pitchers), with 15 home runs, 108 RBIs, 238 hits, 33 doubles, three triples, 94 runs scored and 87 walks.

A historic marker was installed in Nashua, NH by the Black Heritage Trail of New Hampshire to celebrate the achievements of Newcombe and Roy Campanella in 2023.

Life after retirement

Newcombe rejoined the Dodger organization 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.

Newcombe was inducted into the Baseball Reliquary's Shrine of the Eternals in 2016 and into the initial class of "Legends of Dodger Baseball" in 2019.

Personal life

Newcombe was married three times. His first wife was Freddie Green, whom he married in 1945 and divorced in 1960. They had 3 children, Evit, Gregory (died in 1998), and Robin (died in 2015). Evit resides in Florida. A week after his divorce from Green, he married Billie Roberts, a marriage which lasted until they divorced in 1994. Newcombe's third wife, Karen Kroner, survived him.

Newcombe dealt with alcoholism in the 1950s and 1960s, describing himself as "a stupefied, wife-abusing, child-frightening, falling-down drunk". His alcoholism became so severe that, in 1965, he pawned his World Series ring in order to afford alcohol. He quit drinking in 1966, when his wife threatened to leave him.

At a fundraising event for Senator Barbara Boxer, President Barack Obama referred to Newcombe (who was attending the event) as "someone who helped... America become what it is.

I would not be here if it were not for Jackie and it were not for Don Newcombe. :- Barack Obama, April 19, 2010.

Newcombe died on the morning of February 19, 2019, at the age of 92, following a long illness. He is interred at the Los Angeles National Cemetery in Los Angeles.

References

References

1. ''Great Baseball Feats, Facts and Figures'', 2008 Edition, p.198, [[David Nemec]] and Scott Flatow, A Signet Book, Penguin Group, New York, {{ISBN. 978-0-451-22363-0
2. ''Great Baseball Feats, Facts and Figures'', 2008 Edition, p.152, [[David Nemec]] and Scott Flatow, A Signet Book, Penguin Group, New York, {{ISBN. 978-0-451-22363-0
3. Ebony]]'', April 1976, pp. 54-62. Accessed March 12, 2011.
4. (June 16, 2010). "Holman Stadium Hosted First Interracial Team". NPR.
5. Bergtold, Russell. "Don Newcombe".
6. Simons, William M.. (October 2, 2015). "The Cooperstown Symposium on Baseball and American Culture, 2000". McFarland & Company, Inc..
7. Mitchell, Houston. (May 14, 2015). "The 20 greatest Dodgers of all time, No. 17: Don Newcombe".
8. Rick Swaine. (June 8, 2009). "The Integration of Major League Baseball: A Team by Team History". McFarland.
9. (November 23, 2016). "Ralph Branca, Who Gave Up 'Shot Heard Round the World,' Dies at 90 - The New York Times". [[The New York Times]].
10. "Don Newcombe Awards".
11. [https://www.baseball-reference.com/japan/player.cgi?id=newcom001don "Don Newcombe,"] Baseball-Reference.com. Accessed March 15, 2015.
12. "1955 Brooklyn Dodgers Statistics". Baseball-Reference.com.
13. (February 19, 2019). "Don Newcombe, star pitcher linked to Dodgers' Brooklyn past, dies at 92". Sporting News.
14. "Don Newcombe Career Stats".
15. Casey, Michael. "Nashua's Holman Stadium honored for historic role in racially integrating baseball".
16. (March 23, 2009). "Don Newcombe named Special Advisor to the Chairman". MLB.com.
17. [http://www.baseballreliquary.org/awards/shrine-of-the-eternals/shrine-of-the-eternals-electees "Shrine of the Eternals – Inductees"] {{Webarchive. link. (September 19, 2020. [[Baseball Reliquary]]. Retrieved 2019-08-14.)
18. (April 13, 2022). "Maury Wills named to 'Legends of Dodger Baseball'". MLB.com.
19. Obama, Barack. (April 19, 2010). "Remarks by the President at fundraising event for Senator Boxer and the DNC".
20. (February 19, 2019). "Don Newcombe, former Dodgers great and inaugural Cy Young Award winner, dead at 92".