Saturday, January 21, 2023

#235 Don Newcombe - Brooklyn Dodgers


Donald Newcombe
Brooklyn Dodgers
Pitcher

Bats:  Left  Throws:  Right  Height:  6'4"  Weight:  220
Born:  June 14, 1926, Madison, NJ
Signed:  Signed by the Brooklyn Dodgers as an amateur free agent before 1946 season
Major League Teams:  Newark Eagles 1944-1945; Brooklyn Dodgers 1949-1951, 1954-1957; Los Angeles Dodgers 1958; Cincinnati Reds 1958-1960; Cleveland Indians 1960
Died:  February 19, 2019, Sherman Oaks, CA (age 92)

1975 Topps #194
Don Newcombe was the first pitcher to win Rookie of the Year, MVP and Cy Young Award honors, a feat no-one else accomplished until Justin Verlander.  After a few years playing with the Newark Eagles, Newcombe was signed by the Dodgers and he'd immediately find success in the National League, winning 17, 19 and 20 games in the 1949, 1950 and 1951 seasons.  He was named Rookie of the Year in 1949 following his 17-8 season in which he led the league with five shutouts.  Newcombe missed two full seasons in his prime to serve in the military during the Korean War.  Returning in 1954 he struggled somewhat, but was a 20-game winner again in 1955.  His Brooklyn club would win their only World Championship in 1955.  Newcombe had his career year in 1956, going 27-7 with a 3.06 ERA and winning both the league's MVP and Cy Young awards.  He threw 18 complete games, including five shutouts, and struck out 139 over 268 innings pitched.

Newcombe never returned to that form and was 0-6 for the Dodgers in 1958, the team's first year in Los Angeles.  His battle with alcoholism contributed to his swift decline.  He was traded to the Reds in June 1958 for Steve Bilko, Johnny Klippstein (#249) and two players to be named later.  After two more seasons with the Reds and Indians, Newcombe was released, but he'd attempt comebacks with the Dodgers in 1961 and in Japan in 1962.  For his career, Newcombe was 153-96 with a 3.57 ERA in 360 games pitched, with 145 complete games and 24 shutouts.  Also a threat at the plate, Newcombe batted .268 with 15 home runs and 109 RBIs, and had 106 pinch-hitting appearances throughout his career.  Newcombe rejoined the Dodgers organization in the late 1970s, and he'd serve in a variety of public relations and front office roles with the club for several decades.

October 7, 2007 - Birthday celebration with family
Building the Set
October 7, 2007 from Dad's eBay purchases - Card #310
This is one of five cards I received from my Dad for my 34th birthday, with each card belonging to a fairly well-known player and being a star or semi-star card needed for our set.  Along with this Newcombe card, I received Roger Craig (#63), Bill Bruton (#185), Bob Feller (#200) and Don Larsen (#332).  My Dad never told me how much he had paid for the cards, where they came from or how long he had stashed them away before my birthday.  

My family celebrated together that year at Blue Eyes in Washington Township, which has since gone on to changes hands (and names) a few time and is now currently The Village Pub.

The Card / Dodgers Team Set
Newcombe had an exclusive contract with Bowman, appearing in that company's sets every year between 1950 and 1955, excluding 1953.  This is his first appearance in a Topps set, and I would have first seen the card as part of the MVP subset included in the 1975 Topps set.  Topps reprinted this card in their 1995 Topps Archives Brooklyn Dodgers set, and also created cards that never were for Newcombe for 1952, 1953 and 1954.  Newcombe autographed reprints of this card for the 2001 and 2002 Topps Archives sets.

1956 Season
As mentioned above, this was Newcombe's career year and he'd top Sal Maglie to win the major league's first Cy Young Award.  Newcombe received 10 of 16 total first place votes with Maglie receiving four votes and Whitey Ford (#240) and Warren Spahn (#10) each receiving one vote each.  Newcombe also edged out Maglie in the National League MVP voting.  Henry Aaron (#31), who had led the league with 200 hits and a .328 batting average, finished third in the voting.

Newcombe was roughed up in both his World Series starts against the Yankees.  In Game 2, he allowed six runs in just 1 2/3 innings of work, and he allowed five runs over three innings in the decisive Game 7.

1950 Bowman #23
1952 Bowman #128
1957 Topps #130
1958 Topps #340
1960 Topps #345

Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card:  1950 Bowman #23
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (7):  1956-1961, 1975
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  2018 Sportkings #24

217 - Newcombe non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 1/21/23.

 Sources:  
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
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