Don Newcombe is frustrated to watch baseball games today because he thinks that pitchers have lost control of the strike zone. Too often, a fight will break out because of an inside pitch. In the 1940s-1960s a pitcher wouldn’t think twice about hitting the batter. In this episode he defends his right to protect the plate and his teammates.
Don Newcombe is a right-handed starting pitcher who played for the Brooklyn/Los Angeles Dodgers (1949–51 and 1954–58), Cincinnati Reds (1958–60) and Cleveland Indians (1960).
Until 2011 when Detroit Tigers pitcher Justin Verlander accomplished the feat, Newcombe was the only baseball player to have won the Rookie of the Year, Most Valuable Player and Cy Young awards in his career. In 1949, he became the first black pitcher to start a World Series game. In 1951, Newcombe was the first black pitcher to win twenty games in one season.[1] In 1956, the inaugural year of the Cy Young Award, he became the first pitcher to win the National League MVP and the Cy Young in the same season.
| Don Newcombe | |||
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Newcombe in 1955.
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| Pitcher | |||
| Born: June 14, 1926 Madison, New Jersey |
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| MLB debut | |||
| May 20, 1949, for the Brooklyn Dodgers | |||
| Last MLB appearance | |||
| October 1, 1960, for the Cleveland Indians | |||
| MLB statistics | |||
| Win–loss record | 149–90 | ||
| Earned run average | 3.56 | ||
| Strikeouts | 1,129 | ||
| Teams | |||
| Career highlights and awards | |||
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