Pitcher, Brooklyn
Dodgers
Age: 30 (June 14)
6th
season with Dodgers
Bats – Left,
Throws – Right
Height: 6’4” Weight: 220
Prior to 1956:
A New Jersey
native, Newcombe began playing semi-pro baseball while in high school, which
didn’t field a baseball team, and was mentored by a neighbor, who taught him
the pitching windup featuring a high leg kick that he utilized throughout his
career. Always big for his age, Newcombe dropped out of high school to sign
with the Negro National League Newark Eagles for $170 per month in 1944. The
18-year-old was 1-3 with a 5.40 ERA in his first season and 3-3 with a 2.60 ERA
in 1945. In October of ’45, he and catcher Roy Campanella played in an
exhibition series at Brooklyn’s Ebbets Field that featured Negro League players
against white major leaguers and were signed by Brooklyn to follow up the
integration of organized baseball that would start with Jackie Robinson.
Robinson mentored the two players as they prepared to join (and integrate)
Nashua of the Class B New England League in 1946. Temperamental and insecure,
Newcombe had a solid season for Nashua, producing a 14-4 record with a 2.21 ERA
and 104 strikeouts in 155 innings pitched. He also was impressive as a batter
as he hit .311 and proved to be a good pinch-hitter. Returning to Nashua in
1947 he improved to 19-6 with a 2.91 ERA and 186 strikeouts. Earning a
promotion to the Montreal Royals of the Class AAA International League in 1948,
Newcombe compiled a 17-6 tally with a 3.14 ERA and 144 strikeouts over the
course of 189 innings, and he also threw a no-hitter. Newcombe improved his
control as he developed his outstanding fastball along with a looping curve and
slider. Much to his chagrin, he started the 1949 season back with Montreal. He
was called up to the Dodgers in May and went on to produce a 17-8 record for
the pennant-winning club along with a 3.17 ERA, 5 shutouts, and 149 strikeouts,
earning NL Rookie of the Year recognition. Brooklyn lost the World Series to
the Yankees and Newcombe started two games, both losses, that made him the
first African-American pitcher to start a World Series game, and set the stage
for years of postseason frustration. “Newk” followed up with another solid
season in 1950. With the Dodgers locked in a tight pennant race with the
Phillies, he pitched five straight complete-game wins between August 21 to
Sept. 6, when he was asked to start both games of a double-header against Philadelphia,
winning the first game and trailing 2-0, in a game Brooklyn eventually won,
when he left in the seventh inning. With the NL pennant on the line on Oct. 1,
Newcombe faced off against Philadelphia’s ace RHP Robin Roberts and pitched 10
innings in defeat. He finished the season with a record of 19-11 and a 3.70 ERA
with 130 strikeouts. In 1951, the Dodgers appeared to be on the way to an easy
pennant when a second-half surge by the arch-rival New York Giants resulted in
a season-extending best-of-three playoff. After the teams split the first two
games, Newcombe started the decisive third game at the Polo Grounds and pitched
into the ninth inning, when he was relieved by RHP Ralph Branca with a 4-2 lead
and runners on second and third. New York slugger Bobby Thomson homered off
Branca to win the game and pennant for the Giants. Newcombe’s final record for
the season was 20-9 with a 3.28 ERA and league-leading 164 strikeouts. He
missed the next two years due to military service, and struggled upon his
return in 1954, compiling a 9-8 tally with a 4.55 ERA and 82 strikeouts over
the course of 144.1 innings. Newcombe became embroiled in controversy early in
the 1955 season when he was fined for walking out on the team when refusing to
pitch batting practice prior to a game. It was all better when he pitched a
one-hit shutout against the Cubs in his next start on his way to a 14-1 mark at
the All-Star break and 20-5 season record for the pennant-winning Dodgers with
a 3.20 ERA and 143 strikeouts while accumulating 233.2 innings. He also had an
outstanding year at the plate, batting .359 with 7 home runs and 23 RBIs.
Newcombe was 0-1 in the World Series triumph over the Yankees but placed
seventh in National League MVP voting.
1956 Season Summary
Appeared in 52
games
P – 38, PH – 14
[Bracketed
numbers indicate NL rank in Top 20]
Pitching
Games – 38
Games Started –
36 [4, tied with Johnny Antonelli]
Complete Games
– 18 [4]
Wins – 27 [1]
Losses – 7
PCT - .794 [2]
Saves – 0
Shutouts – 5 [2,
tied with Johnny Antonelli]
Innings Pitched
– 268 [4]
Hits – 219 [8,
tied with John Klippstein]
Runs – 101 [10,
tied with Bob Rush]
Earned Runs – 91
[9]
Home Runs – 33 [2]
Bases on Balls
– 46
Strikeouts – 139
[7]
ERA – 3.06 [5]
Hit Batters – 3
[20, tied with nine others]
Balks – 0
Wild Pitches – 4
[17, tied with six others]
League-leading
wins were +7 ahead of runners-up Warren Spahn & Johnny Antonelli
Midseason
Snapshot: 11-5, ERA - 3.58, SO - 67 in 118 IP
---
Most
strikeouts, game – 10 (in 9 IP) vs. Milwaukee 8/2
10+ strikeout
games – 1
Fewest hits
allowed, game (min. 7 IP) – 2 (in 9 IP) vs. Philadelphia 8/11
Batting
PA – 128, AB – 111,
R – 13, H – 26, 2B – 6, 3B – 0, HR – 2, RBI – 16, BB – 12, SO – 18, SB – 1, CS
– 0, AVG - .234, GDP – 4, HBP – 1, SH – 3, SF – 1
Fielding
Chances – 65
Put Outs – 25
Assists – 39
Errors – 1
DP – 5
Pct. - .985
Postseason
Pitching: G – 2, (World Series vs. NY Yankees)
GS – 2, CG – 0,
Record – 0-1, PCT – .000, SV – 0, ShO – 0, IP – 4.2, H – 11, R – 11, ER – 11, HR
– 4, BB – 3, SO – 4, ERA – 21.21, HB – 0, BLK – 0, WP – 0
Awards & Honors:
NL MVP: BBWAA
MLB Cy Young
Award: BBWAA
NL Pitcher of
the Year: Sporting News
Top 5 in NL MVP
Voting:
Don Newcombe,
Brook.: 223 points – 8 of 24 first place votes, 66% share
Sal Maglie,
Brook.: 183 points – 4 first place votes, 54% share
Hank Aaron,
Mil.: 146 points – 43% share
Warren Spahn,
Mil.: 126 points – 1 first place vote, 38% share
Jim Gilliam,
Brook.: 103 points – 4 first place votes, 31% share
(3
first place votes apiece cast for Roy McMillan, Cin., who ranked sixth &
Pee Wee Reese, Brook., who ranked eighth; 1 first place vote cast for Duke
Snider, Brook., who ranked tenth)
MLB Cy Young
voting:
Don Newcombe,
Brook.: 10 of 16 votes, 63% share
Sal Maglie, Clev./Brook.:
4 votes, 25% share
Whitey Ford,
NYY: 1 vote, 6% share
Warren Spahn,
Mil.: 1 vote, 6% share
---
The Dodgers
went 93-61 to win the NL pennant by 1 game over the Milwaukee Braves. The
pitching staff led the NL in shutouts (12, tied with Milwaukee and St. Louis),
strikeouts (772), and fewest hits allowed (1251). The Dodgers battled the
Braves all season, finally pulling ahead in late September and wrapping up the
pennant with Newcombe’s 27th win in the finale against Pittsburgh. Lost
World Series to the New York Yankees, 4 games to 3. After winning the first two
games, the Dodgers lost the next three, most notably Game 5 in which Yankee RHP
Don Larsen pitched a perfect game. Newcombe started two games, both losses,
failing to make it past the second inning in Game 1 and taking the loss in the
decisive Game 7.
Aftermath of 1956:
In 1957 Newcombe was involved in more off-field controversy during a year in which his record dropped to 11-12 with a 3.49 ERA. With the franchise’s move to Los Angeles in 1958 he got off to an 0-6 start and was traded to the Cincinnati Reds, where he went 7-7 with a 3.85 ERA the rest of the way. Newcombe rebounded somewhat in 1959, posting a 13-8 tally and 3.16 ERA with 100 strikeouts in 222 innings. Off to a mediocre start with the Reds in 1960, he was sold to the Cleveland Indians where he was relegated to the bullpen in his last major league season. Released prior to the 1961 season he played for Spokane in the Class AAA Pacific Coast League and went 9-8 with a 4.96 ERA. Moving on to Japan in 1962, he was utilized primarily as an outfielder and first baseman by the Chunichi Dragons and hit .262 with 12 home runs and 43 RBIs in his final professional season. For his major league career, Newcombe compiled a 153-96 record with a 3.57 ERA, 145 complete games, 24 shutouts, and 1187 strikeouts in 2251.2 innings pitched. With the Dodgers his record was 123-66 with a 3.51 ERA, 111 complete games, 22 shutouts, and 913 strikeouts over the course of 1662.2 innings. Appearing in 5 World Series games, typically with disappointing results, his tally was 0-4 with an 8.59 ERA and 19 strikeouts in 22 innings pitched. Overall as a batter he hit .268 with 15 home runs and 109 RBIs. Newcombe was a four-time All-Star and finished in the top 10 in NL MVP voting three times, winning once. In retirement he admitted to years of alcoholic drinking, which likely contributed to his off-field problems. After dealing with his own problem, he became director of Community Relations for the Dodgers and regularly made the rounds of major league teams during spring training to share his experience and warn of the dangers of alcohol abuse. He died at the age of 92 in 2019.
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MVP Profiles feature players in the National or American leagues who were winners of the Chalmers Award (1911-14), League Award (1922-29), or Baseball Writers’ Association of America Award (1931 to present) as Most Valuable Player.
Cy Young Profiles feature pitchers who were recipients of
the Cy Young Award by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America (1956 to
present). The award was presented to a single major league winner from its
inception through 1966 and from 1967 on to one recipient from each major league
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