Don Newcombe

• Born: June 14, 1926
• Birthplace: Madison, New Jersey
• Died: February 19, 2019
• Place of death: Los Angeles, California

Sport: Baseball

Early Life

One of five children, Don Newcombe was born on June 14, 1926, in Madison, New Jersey, to Roland Newcombe and Sadie Sayers Newcombe. As a nine-year-old child, Newcombe was first introduced to baseball when he had the opportunity to take batting and pitching lessons at a semiprofessional baseball club that was managed by one of his older brothers. In junior high school, he played both baseball and football. He then attended Jefferson High School in Elizabeth, New Jersey; the school did not have a baseball team. In 1942, at the age of sixteen, he joined the US Army but was almost immediately discharged because of his age. In August, 1943, he entered the US Navy and again was discharged.

The Road to Excellence

In 1943, Newcombe joined the Newark Eagles, a Negro League baseball team. During the 1944 season, he posted 7 wins and 5 losses as a pitcher for the team. In 1945, he had a 14–4 record and was named to the Negro National League all-star team. In October 1945, he pitched three scoreless innings at Ebbets Field in Brooklyn, New York. Clyde Sukeforth, a scout for the Brooklyn Dodgers, was at the ballpark that day and invited Newcombe to try out for the team. After a successful audition, he was signed to the Dodgers’ Class B New England farm team at Nashua, New Hampshire, in 1946. Along with catcher Roy Campanella, Newcombe became part of baseball history as a member of the first racially integrated baseball team of the modern era in the United States. During his second season with the Dodgers’ farm team, he continued to excel at the game. In total that season, he posted 19 wins and 6 losses, pitched 223 innings, and struck out 186 batters. In 1948, he was promoted to the Dodgers’ Montreal team.

The Emerging Champion

In May 1949, Branch Rickey, the general manager of the Dodgers, moved Newcombe to the Brooklyn team; he became the fourth African American player to be promoted to the Dodgers. The players he followed to Brooklyn were Jackie Robinson, Campanella, and Dan Bankhead. During the 1949 season, Newcombe had 17 wins and 8 losses. He pitched 32 consecutive scoreless innings, struck out 149 batters in 244 innings, and won the National League (NL) rookie of the year award. In 1949, the Dodgers played against the New York Yankees in the World Series, and Newcombe became the first African American player ever to pitch in the World Series.

During the early 1950s, Newcombe was drafted into the US Army, where he served during the Korean War. After his discharge, he returned to baseball. In 1955, he was named to the NL all-star team, had the best pitching record in the league, and again played against the New York Yankees in the World Series. In 1956, he was the best NL pitcher, with a 27–7 record. He also struck out 139 batters that season. Furthermore, he won both the most valuable player award and the Cy Young Award, the first player to win both awards in the same season.

Continuing the Story

Although Newcombe was a great baseball player, he struggled with alcohol abuse. He was also deeply affected by the segregation that continued to exist off the baseball field. Until 1954, when the team traveled to away games, African American baseball players had to stay in segregated hotels. Eventually, both his alcohol abuse and his struggle with segregation affected his playing. In 1957, he had a mediocre season for the Dodgers, and in 1958, he was traded to the Cincinnati Reds. He ended the 1958 season with a 7–13 record.

In 1959, Newcombe was traded to the Cleveland Indians. After finishing the 1960 season with a 6–9 record, he retired from Major League Baseball. In 1962, he returned to baseball when he joined the Japanese baseball team, the Chunichi Dragons. He again made history, becoming not only the second American player ever to play Japanese professional baseball but also the first major-league player to do so. During the 1970s, he returned to the Dodgers as the team’s director of community affairs. By 2009, he had taken on the role of special advisor to the team's chairman, and he continued to maintain that position for almost the next decade.

On February 19, 2019, it was announced by the Dodgers organization that Newcombe had died that morning at the age of ninety-two following a protracted illness.

Summary

Don Newcombe made enormous contributions to professional baseball. During the 1940s, he became a key figure in the desegregation of baseball when he was chosen by Branch Rickey to join an integrated Dodgers team. During his career as a pitcher, he became the first player to win the rookie of the year award, the Cy Young Award, and the most valuable player award. He was also considered one of the best-hitting pitchers in professional baseball history.

Bibliography

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Freedman, Lew. African-American Pioneers of Baseball: A Biographical Encyclopedia. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 2007.

Goldstein, Richard. "Don Newcombe Dies at 92; Dodger Pitcher Helped Break Racial Barrier." The New York Times, 19 Feb. 2019, www.nytimes.com/2019/02/19/obituaries/don-newcombe-dead.html. Accessed 24 Aug. 2020.

Kirwin, Bill. Out of the Shadows: African American Baseball from the Cuban Giants to Jackie Robinson. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2005.

Marx, Doug. The Rookies. Vero Beach, Fla.: Rourke, 1991.

Reisler, Jim. Black Writers/Black Baseball: An Anthology of Articles from Black Sportswriters Who Covered the Negro Leagues. Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland, 1994.