The life and career of Don Newcombe are ones of “what ifs.” What if Newcombe would have been in a Brooklyn Dodgers uniform in 1952 and 1953 instead of a military uniform? What if Don Newcombe would have received substance abuse help to control his alcoholism? What if Newcombe could have pitched in Dodger Stadium in the latter half of his prime? What if Don Newcombe could have pitched until age 40, like he mentioned in interviews, instead of age 34? The simple answer is he would have won 300+ games and he’d have a plaque in Cooperstown.
In barely ten seasons, Newcombe was able to accumulate 149 victories. About two-thirds of his victories came in the first six years of his career. Three times Newcombe won 20 or more games, culminating with a league-leading 27 in 1956. During that time, he made four NL All-Star teams, won an NL Cy Young Award, won an NL MVP Award, won a World Series championship, and won an NL Rookie of the Year Award, which is the focus of this First Card Friday.
After being called up from Montreal in late May 1949, Newcombe took the National League by storm, leading the league with five shutouts even though he didn’t get his first start until almost two months of the season was completed. His early-season exploits earned him an appearance in the All-Star Game at Ebbets Field, the first African-American pitcher to be so honored. Down the stretch run for the Dodgers, Newk threw six complete games in six starts, three of them shutouts, in rout to 31-consecutive scoreless innings. You may notice Newcombe’s first card contains an X for his strikeout prowess. For the 1949 campaign, Newcombe finished only two whiffs behind league leader Warren Spahn, who threw 58 more innings during the season. APBA gave Newcombe a B rating for the season, probably based on his 3.17 ERA. As most APBA fans know, you’re unlikely to earn an A rating without a 2.50 or less ERA.
You might notice Big Newk was a great hitting pitcher. In his rookie campaign, he managed a .229 average, which is more than respectable for a pitcher. However, keep in mind that Newcombe was a CAREER .271 hitter with 15 lifetime home runs. His best hitting season was 1955 when he hit .359 in 125 plate appearances and set the National League single-season record for home runs by a pitcher with seven. His record has been tied on a few occasions since then, but his prowess with a bat was impressive.
Throughout his best seasons, Don Newcombe relied upon Jackie Robinson and Roy Campanella to help him maintain his focus, temper and deal with racial issues. It’s not a coincidence that Newcombe’s career took a nosedive when Robinson retired and Campanella had his tragic automobile accident. After 1957, Don Newcombe was never the same.
When Don Newcombe was breaking in, many thought he was the next Dizzy Dean. When he was in his 20s, that certainly looked to be the case. Still, Newcombe accomplished several amazing feats in his short career. After Dan Bankhead and Satchel Paige, he was just the third African-American pitcher in Big League history. When he started game one of the 1949 World Series, Newcombe was the first African-American to start in the Fall Classic. Also, he was the first pitcher to win the Rookie of the Year, Cy Young Award, MVP, and World Series championship. The only other pitcher to accomplish that feat is Justin Verlander when he completed the fourth requirement in 2017. As we know, it was difficult for African-American players in the early days of desegregated baseball. The pressure was immense and some players handled it better than others. For a time, Don Newcombe handled it like a champion, however his ability to handle the challenges of representing an entire race at the highest level of athletic competition eventually wore him down. I’m confident that in another time and era, Don Newcombe would have been a Hall of Famer. What if?
