Today marks the first appearance of a new Tuesday feature for Baseball: Past and Present, “Does he belong in the Hall of Fame?” I first wrote about the Hall of Fame here in May 2009 when I made a list, The 10 best baseball players not in the Hall of Fame. Now, I could probably name 50-100 such players. I intend to look at as many as possible here.
Claim to fame: Newcombe was the ace pitcher on an iconic team, the 1950s Brooklyn Dodgers written about in Roger Kahn’s The Boys of Summer. The 1949 National League Rookie of the Year when he went 17-8 with a 3.17 ERA, 19 complete games and five shutouts, Newcombe proceeded to win at least 20 games three out of his next five seasons. He peaked in 1956 when he won the MVP and Cy Young awards, going 27-7 for Brooklyn.
Newcombe was gone from the majors by 1960 at 34, with a 149-90 lifetime record and 3.56 ERA, and as it emerged later, he battled alcoholism during his career. While Newcombe has just one less win than Hall of Famer Dizzy Dean and a better lifetime ERA than two other Cooperstown members, Red Ruffing and Waite Hoyt (another pitcher who later disclosed that alcoholism marred his playing), one has to wonder what Newcombe would’ve achieved if he’d found recovery sooner.
He said he’s been sober since 1967 and told MLB.com in 2007, “I’m glad to be anywhere, when I think about my life back then. What I have done after my baseball career and being able to help people with their lives and getting their lives back on track and they become human beings again — means more to me than all the things I did in baseball.”
Current Hall of Fame eligibility: Newcombe exhausted his 15 years of eligibility with the Baseball Writers Association of America in 1980, peaking at 15.3% of the vote that year; he’s eligible for enshrinement with the Veterans Committee.
Whether he belongs in Cooperstown: The Veterans Committee could do (and has done) worse than to honor a player like Newcombe, a fine example to any player struggling with substance abuse. I’ve read that the Dodgers of the 1950s overused their pitchers, so the argument could be made that Newcombe would have left the majors early regardless of if he drank, but I still think his Cooperstown induction could positively effect the game. It could send the message: If you’re a talented player who falls short of the Hall of Fame behind drugs or alcohol, and you turn your life around after you leave the big leagues, we’ll take note.
If I understand correctly, the Hall of Fame is about celebrating the best of baseball, just as it’s about honoring players with gaudy career numbers. While I don’t know if what Newcombe has done in retirement is enough to make up for his truncated career and earn him a nod from the Veterans Committee, it would be a bright spot for a game whose players have famously struggled with alcohol, amphetamines, cocaine and steroids. If it were up to me, I’d give him a plaque. He’s in my Hall of Fame.
I’d vote him in. For several seasons he was among the best of that first generation of Black players to succeed in the major leagues in the wake of Jackie Robinson and Larry Doby–and one of the few pitchers. Most of the early Black stars were position players.
Joe Black won 15 games in 1952 but was ineffective the remainder of his career. Satchel Paige made two All Star games in his mid-40s (or early 50s, depending on who you talk to.)
I’m also working on a post for Monday on a guy who might have been an ace if the majors had desegregated while he was pitching.
15 is not 27.
No not even close, though he did well enough in the Negro Leagues that he may have been a Hall of Famer with a few more solid seasons there or several more in the bigs.
After the way the Yankees, and Yogi Berra in particular, worked him over in the 56 series, he was never the same pitcher as he’d been before.
There were even cruel jokes afterward that went, “What has two arms, two legs and no guts? Don Newcombe.”
And no. He’s not a hall of famer.
We shouldn’t forget that he lost 2 full season to the military, in the midst of his
20 victory years. I suspect, too, that his mediocre 1954 season was because of
readjusting after the two year absence. He might have added enough wins to put
him close to 200. Probably still not enough for the HOF, without better Series
performances.
Big Newk holds distinction of being one of the 9 best hitting pitchers of all times (including several .300 seasons) and was revered by his opponents as “menacing”. His career was above average, and his post-baseball career after rehabilitation was of great benefit to the game. Should have been a HOF member, but post career contributions to the game just simply aren’t recognized, just look at the contributions of the late Buck O’Neil.
Does anyone know if Don Newcombe threw both ends of a double header. If not who
He pitched through the seventh inning of the second game of the doubleheader.Saw him pitch many times.Overpowering therefore sometimes wild.#1 pitcher on great teams. A workhorse.Great spokesman for the game .Still works for the Dodgers.
Definitely. He was an overpowering presence on the field. He was a good enough hitter to be used as a pinch hitter. A great player on a great team. Baseball was different then. No five man rotation. Put him in and be proud that you did.
An anecdote: I attended the 1956 home opener in Brooklyn with my father, Newcombe vs Robin Roberts; saw them hoist the world series flag; middle of game, Newcombe comes up and hits a line drive to right that appeared to go over the cyclone fence for a HR; Newcombe rounds the bases, then is called back to second base by the umps; turns out Newcombe had hit it so hard that the ball went through the fence, instead of over it, umps ruled it a ground rule double; doubt if that ever happened again.
For many reasons, he belongs in the HOF.