Trailblazing black pitcher fierce presence on mound
DON Newcombe was the hardthrowing Brooklyn Dodgers pitcher who was one of the first black players in the American baseball’s major leagues and who went on to win the rookie of the year, most valuable player and Cy Young awards.
He died on February 19, aged 92.
Newcombe, like Dodgers teammate Jackie Robinson, was signed by Branch Rickey from the Negro Leagues and went on to make a huge mark in the major leagues.
‘‘Newk’’ was a fierce presence on the mound, a bear of a man who stared down hitters and backed up anyone foolish enough to crowd the plate.
He was a fourtime AllStar and won 20 games three times.
His greatest year was 1956, when he went 277 and won both the Cy Young Award, then only given to one pitcher for both leagues, and the National League MVP award.
Newcombe, Robinson and catcher Roy Campanella were a trio of black stars for the Dodgers who often supported each other.
‘‘We came up with a strategy,’’ Newcombe later recalled. ‘‘We knew the impact we were attempting would have. We had to endure. [Robinson’s] character, his backbone, his guts, those were the keys. Jackie was the leader under Mr Rickey.’’
The three talked frequently, Campanella and Newcombe from the Dodgers’ Nashua, New Hampshire, farm team and Robinson from Brooklyn.
‘‘We talked about how things were going,’’ Newcombe said. ‘‘What if somebody charged the mound on me? What would I do? Nobody did.
‘‘I remember in the New England league, a catcher threw dirt in Roy’s face. He said, ‘If you do that again, I’ll personally take your arm out of its socket.’ They challenged us. They did anything they could to break down the idea.’’
Newcombe’s Dodgers were perennial alsorans, who specialised in winning the National League pennant then losing the World Series to the Yankees. Newcombe played on three pennant winners with the Dodgers and the World Series champions in 1955, the year they finally beat the Yankees.
Born on June 14, 1926, in Madison, New Jersey, Newcombe pitched in the Negro Leagues starting in 1944 at age 18. In 1945, he had an 83 record with the Newark Eagles and won the attention of the Brooklyn Dodgers organisation.
In 1989, at a reunion of Negro League greats, Newcombe gave a speech in Atlanta where he reflected on his experience.
‘‘I wish that in some few words I could wipe away that pain you’ve suffered so long because you have skin this colour,’’ he said. ‘‘We know that we would not be here today if it were not for the Negro Leagues. I thank God I had the chance to walk shoulder to shoulder with you.’’
In 1949, Newcombe, Robinson and Cleveland Indians centre fielder Larry Doby became the first black players to appear in an AllStar game, when the Dodgers hosted the midseason contest at Ebbets Field.
On July 8, 1949, Newcombe and New York Giants slugger Hank Thompson became the first black pitcher and hitter to face each other in a major league game.
Like many ball players of his generation, Newcombe lost some prime years to military service, giving the army the 1952 and 1953 seasons to fight in the Korean War. ‘‘Wait until next year’’ had become a virtual mantra in Brooklyn as the Dodgers won the National League title in 1947, 1949, 1952 and 1953, only to lose the World Series every time.
Then came 1955, ‘‘the year next year finally came’’ in Brooklyn parlance.
The Dodgers finally beat the Yankees in the World Series and Newcombe went 205 during the regular season, winning 18 of his first 19 decisions. On the day of his 20th win he hit his seventh home run of the season, a National League record for a pitcher at the time.
In his MVP year of 1956, Newcombe became the first black pitcher to lead either league in wins. Brooklyn won another pennant that year, but lost the World Series to the Yankees in seven games, Newcombe defeated in the final game.
Newcombe faded quickly after 1956 as he pitched for the transplanted Los Angeles Dodgers, Cincinnati Reds and Cleveland Indians.
In a 10year major league career he had a record of 14990 record and a 3.56 ERA.
Alcoholism helped lead to his early retirement. He gave up drinking in later years and worked for drug and alcohol prevention programmes. He continued working for the Dodgers, most recently as special adviser to the chairman.
Newcombe was not elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame, due mostly to his army and alcoholshortened career.
He kept virtually no memorabilia from his career. He sold his rookie of the year, MVP, and Cy Young trophies, along with his World Series ring, to filmmaker Spike Lee.
In 1968, Newcombe met Martin Luther King jun, just 28 days before the civil rights leader’s assassination. King had dinner at Newcombe’s home in Los Angeles before returning to Atlanta.
According to Newcombe, King told him, ‘‘Don, you’ll never know how easy you and Jackie and Doby and Campy made it for me to do my job by what you did on the baseball field.’’
His survivors include his wife, Karen Newcombe, two sons and a stepson.