Ex-dodgers righty Newcombe dies at 92 after lengthy illness
One of MLB’S first black players, led Brooklyn teams of 1950s
LOS ANGELES — Don Newcombe, the hard-throwing Brooklyn Dodgers pitcher who was one of the major league’s first black players and who went on to win the Rookie of the Year, Most Valuable Player and Cy Young awards, died Tuesday. He was 92.
”The Dodgers meant everything to him, and we are all fortunate he was a part of our lives,” Dodgers President Stan Kasten said.
The Dodgers said Newcombe died after a lengthy illness; cause of death was not disclosed.
Newcombe, like teammate Jackie Robinson, was signed by Branch Rickey from the Negro Leagues and went on to make a huge mark.
“Newk” was a fierce mound presence, a 6-foot-4-inch, 225-pounder who won 20 games three times and was a fourtime All-star.
His most dominant season was 1956 when he went 27-7 and won both the Cy Young Award, then given to one pitcher for both leagues, and the National League MVP.
“He was a powerhouse. I don’t think he really got enough credit for his overall performance,” said former teammate Carl Erskine.
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.”
Newcombe’s Dodgers specialized in winning the NL 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 June 14, 1926, in Madison, New Jersey, Newcombe pitched in the Negro Leagues starting in 1944. In 1945 he had an 8-3 record with the Newark Eagles, drawing the Dodgers’ attention.
In 1989, at a reunion of Negro League greats in Atlanta, Newcombe reflected on his experience.
“We know that we would not be here today if it were not for the Negro Leagues,” he said. “I thank God I had the chance to walk shoulder to shoulder with you.”
He went 17-8 in 1949, his first season with the Dodgers and was named NL Rookie of the Year.
Newcombe, Robinson and Larry
Doby of the Cleveland Indians became the first black players to appear in an All-star game that season, when the Dodgers hosted the midseason contest at Ebbets Field.
On July 8, 1949, Newcombe and
Hank Thompson of the New York Giants became the first black pitcher and hitter to face each other in a major league game.
In 1950 Newcombe went 19-11, and in 1951 went 20-9, but he failed to win the season’s most important game. He was the starting pitcher in the decisive playoff series between the Dodgers and the Giants, and he held a 4-1 lead going into the ninth inning. But he gave up three hits to the first four batters and was replaced by Ralph Branca, who quickly achieved baseball infamy when Bobby Thomson lofted a pennant-winning home run, “the shot heard ‘round the world.”
In his MVP year of 1956, Newcombe became the first black pitcher to lead either league in wins. Brooklyn won the pennant but lost the World Series to the Yankees with Newcombe the loser in Game 7.
Newcombe faded quickly after 1956, finishing with the transplanted Los Angeles Dodgers, Cincinnati Reds and Cleveland Indians. He went 149-90 for his career with 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 programs.
Survivors include his wife, Karen Newcombe, three children, a stepson and two grandchildren.