1952 – Brooklyn Dodgers pitcher Don Newcombe is sworn into the Army. The 26-year old New Jersey native, who posted a 56-28 record his first three years with the team, will miss two seasons.
On February 18, 1952 – Brooklyn Dodgers pitcher Don Newcombe is sworn into the Army. The 26-year old New Jersey native, who posted a 56-28 record his first three years with the team, will miss two seasons. When he returns in 1954 he will go 9-8 and then in 1955 & 1956 he will dominate…
Don Newcombe becomes the first black to win twenty games in a season. In a must win for the Dodgers, the right-hander bests Robin Roberts, also a 20-game-winner, when he blanks the Phillies at Shibe Park, 5-0.
1951 – The Giants stay one game behind the Dodgers as Jim Hearn tops the Phillies, 10 – 1, and the Dodgers crush the Braves, 15 – 5. Roy Campanella drives home three runs in the 1st inning and Don Newcombe coasts to his 19th win. With a 13 – 3 lead in the 8th inning, Jackie Robinson steals home against rookie P Lew Burdette, infuriating the Braves.
Don Mueller hits two more home runs, giving him five in two days, to tie a major league mark. His second homer, again off Phil Haugstad, comes a minute after he learns he is a new father. Bobby Thomson adds his 25th homer and Jim Hearn beats the Dodgers, 11 – 2. After Mueller’s second homer, Haugstad decks Thomson and hits Willie Mays with a pitch, evoking a warning from umpire Al Barlick. Barlick had earlier thumbed Ralph Branca and Dick Williams in the 5th inning, Don Newcombe in the 6th when he objected to a call, and Jackie Robinson and rookie Clem Labine. Chuck Dressen then clears his bench to avoid any more thumbings. The Giants move to five games behind Brooklyn.
With his second home run of the game, the sixth time he has accomplished the feat this year, Gil Hodges hits his 36th round-tripper to establish a new franchise record for homers in a season. The Dodger first baseman’s seventh-inning three-run blast in the team’s 13-1 rout of Cincinnati at Brooklyn’s Ebbets Field surpasses the mark of 35 set by Babe Herman in 1930.
Sal Maglie outpitches Don Newcombe, 2 – 1, to cut the Dodger lead over the Giants to 9 1/2 games. Maglie allows four hits, including Billy Cox’s 300-foot homer, in winning his 17th. The Giants score the winner in the 7th when Bobby Thomson scores on a wild pitch. Pee Wee Reese goes hitless, ending his 22-game streak.
At Ebbets Field, Gil Hodges hits his 27th homer of the year to lead the Dodgers to a 8 – 4 win over the Giants. Andy Pafko also homers, off Larry Jansen. Don Newcombe notches his 12th win, giving up seven hits. After sweeping the Giants in the 3-game series, Dodger manager Chuck Dressen declares, “We knocked ’em out. They won’t bother us anymore.” The Dodgers now lead the Giants by 7 1/2 games but will be surpassed by season’s end.
On October 1, 1950, in the season finale, a Brooklyn win would have forced a playoff, and a Phillies win would give them there first World Series appearance since 1915. Don Newcombe faced Robin Roberts, at Ebbets Field. The teams traded runs in the 6th, when Willi Jones knocked in Dick Sisler with a two…
1950 – Don Newcombe misses pitching complete games in a doubleheader for the Brooklyn Dodgers by leaving in the 7th inning of the second game, trailing the Philadelphia Phillies, 2 – 0. Newcombe won the first game, 2 – 0.
Enjoy our free trial and start listening to games, interviews and shows! Ruth, Mantle, Aaron, and Seaver!