RIP, Don Newcombe

Often overlooked as a great pitcher

 

He was 92. I think that leaves Carl Erskine as the last of the "Boys of Summer" Dodgers.

 

Moderators, Steak Snabler and I posted about the same time. Please merge or eliminate this post. Thanks

 

He really was on a HOF trajectory. Even losing two full years to Korea, he had this resume by age 30: ROY, MVP, CY, 112 wins, black ink all over the place. Then it largely came undone. RIP.

 

He was only 30 in his last great year (1956). Declined quickly after that. Awful World Series record.

For all their greatness, the Dodgers had a deserved reputation for overusing and burning out young arms. They used guys as starters, and then relievers; Newcombe had 20-plus relief appearances in addition to starting at least 30 games every season.

Newcombe, Ralph Branca, Carl Erskine, Karl Spooner, Don Bessent, Clem Labine, Johnny Podres, all essentially were finished by their 31st birthday.

 

Battle with the bottle probably cost him Cooperstown. But he beat it eventually.

 

Newk was also a strong hitter. Want to say he pinch hit a lot in 1955.

 

In 1955, he had 125 PA, his slash line was .359/.395/.632 with seven home runs.

 

Shiva h vishnu

 

He also threw a lot of high-stress innings at a very young age.

That's why it's funny when people say guys can't handle heavy workloads these days, they neglect to mention guys like Newcombe, Drysdale and Koufax who were burned out by the time they were 32.

 

Newcombe was always one of my favorites, not as a kid, but when as an adult I could squelch fellow sportswriters who argued that the Cy Young was created as an award for pitchers so that the MVP could be for position players by noting that the very first year there was a Cy Young, its winner was also MVP. His work with substance abuse in later years was more important IMO than if he'd piled up a couple more 20-win seasons.