Don Newcombe has died at the age of 92. He was one of the early players to integrate Major League Baseball. His first entered the majors in 1949 for the Dodgers, and won the Rookie of the Year award that season. He won the MVP and Cy Young awards in 1956, was selected to four All Star teams, played in three World Series and was on the winning Series team once (in 1955). He was also a good-hitting pitcher, with 108 career home runs, a lifetime batting average of .271, and a lifetime OBP of .338.
I like how Baseball Reference puts a black band across the top of the page for recently deceased players.
Looking at Newcombe’s BR page, I’m a bit puzzled about his 1956 campaign, the year he won both the Cy Young and the MVP awards. He pitched 268 innings and finished at 27-7 with a 3.06 ERA. His WHIP was under 1 and his ERA+ was 131. So how does in wind up with only 4.5 WAR?
I wouldn’t put a lot of stock in WAR from that far back.
Newcombe used to be the answer to one of my favourite trivia questions; “Who is the only player who won the Rookie of the Year Award, MVP Award, and Cy Young Award?” (Not in the same season.) Since then Justin Verlander also did it, so the question isn’t as fun.