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Don Newcombe
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Birthdate: 6/14/1926
Height / Weight: 6' 4" / 225 lbs.
Place of Birth: Madison, NJ, USA
Bats / Throws: L / R

Baseball Historian Biography

Don Newcombe, 6' 4", 225 lbs, is the only major leaguer to win The Rookie of the Year, Cy Young, and Most Valuable Player Awards. Called up by the Brooklyn Dodgers from their minor league farm club, Montreal, Newcombe was the first great African American baseball pitcher. In his rookie year, 1949, Newcombe went 17-8, 3.17 ERA, started 31 games, completed 19 along with 3 shutouts and was voted the Rookie of the Year. In 1950, this Dodger mound ace went 19-11 pitching in 267 innings. In 1951, he won 20 games, while losing only 9, a .690 winning percentage. Big Don Newcombe was called into the military and spent the next two seasons in service. 

When he returned in 1954, his arm stiffened and he was only 9-8 with a high 4.55 ERA. The following year he returned to his pre-military form going 20-5. In 1956, his greatest season, Don Newcombe was 27-7 and became the first player in history to win the Cy Young and MVP in the same year. Known for his quite demeanor, Newcombe's alcoholism got the best of him, and at the age of 31 his major league career was over. Newcombe later said, "In 1956 I was the best pitcher in baseball. Four years later, I was out of the major leagues. It must have been the drinking. When you're young, you can handle it, but the older you get, the more it bothers you." Newcombe currently counsels players in the Los Angeles Dodgers organization about alcohol and substance abuse - he pitched for Los Angeles after the Dodgers moved there in 1958. Don Newcombe career numbers: 149-90, .623 pct, 3.56 ERA, 24 shutouts in over 2,000 innings. baseball history


Pitching Statistics
Year Team G GS W L SV CG SHO IP H R ER HR BB IBB SO WP HBP BK ERA
1949 BRO (NL) 38 31 17 8 1 19 5 244.1 223 89 86 17 73 0 149 4 3 2 3.17
1950 BRO (NL) 40 35 19 11 3 20 4 267.1 258 120 110 22 75 0 130 1 2 1 3.70
1951 BRO (NL) 40 36 20 9 0 18 3 272.0 235 115 99 19 91 0 164 7 6 0 3.28
1954 BRO (NL) 29 25 9 8 0 6 0 144.1 158 81 73 24 49 0 82 0 5 0 4.55
1955 BRO (NL) 34 31 20 5 0 17 1 233.2 222 103 83 35 38 1 143 0 1 0 3.20
1956 BRO (NL) 38 36 27 7 0 18 5 268.0 219 101 91 33 46 8 139 4 3 0 3.06
1957 BRO (NL) 28 28 11 12 0 12 4 198.2 199 86 77 28 33 4 90 0 1 0 3.49
1958 LAD (NL) 11 8 0 6 0 1 0 34.1 53 37 30 11 8 1 16 0 0 0 7.86
1958 CIN (NL) 20 18 7 7 1 7 0 133.1 159 61 57 20 28 4 53 2 1 0 3.85
1959 CIN (NL) 30 29 13 8 1 17 2 222.0 216 87 78 25 27 3 100 4 5 0 3.16
1960 CLE (AL) 20 2 2 3 1 0 0 54.0 61 28 26 6 8 0 27 0 0 0 4.33
1960 CIN (NL) 16 15 4 6 0 1 0 82.2 99 48 42 12 14 0 36 0 3 0 4.57
12 years   344 294 149 90 7 136 24 2154.2 2102 956 852 252 490 21 1129 22 30 3 3.56
Batting Statistics
Year Team G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB CS IBB HBP SH SF AVG OBP SLG
1949 BRO (NL) 39 96 8 22 4 0 0 10 5 16 0 0 0 0 1 0 .229 .267 SLG
1950 BRO (NL) 40 97 8 24 3 1 1 8 10 19 0 0 0 0 3 0 .247 .318 SLG
1951 BRO (NL) 40 103 11 23 3 1 0 8 8 9 0 0 0 1 2 0 .223 .286 SLG
1954 BRO (NL) 31 47 6 15 1 0 0 4 4 6 0 0 0 0 3 1 .319 .365 SLG
1955 BRO (NL) 57 117 18 42 9 1 7 23 6 18 1 0 0 1 1 0 .359 .395 SLG
1956 BRO (NL) 52 111 13 26 6 0 2 16 12 18 1 0 0 1 3 1 .234 .312 SLG
1957 BRO (NL) 34 74 8 17 2 0 1 7 11 11 0 1 0 0 1 0 .230 .329 SLG
1958 CIN (NL) 39 60 9 21 1 0 1 9 8 10 0 0 0 0 0 1 .350 .420 SLG
1958 LAD (NL) 11 12 2 5 0 0 0 0 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 .417 .500 SLG
1959 CIN (NL) 61 105 10 32 2 0 3 21 17 23 0 0 1 0 1 0 .305 .402 SLG
1960 CLE (AL) 24 20 1 6 1 0 0 1 1 7 0 0 0 0 0 0 .300 .333 SLG
1960 CIN (NL) 24 36 0 5 1 0 0 1 3 8 0 0 0 0 2 0 .139 .205 SLG
12 years   452 878 94 238 33 3 15 108 87 147 2 1 1 3 17 3 .271 .338 .SLG



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