Lest we forget: Don Newcombe, continued

The NY Times‘ Richard Goldstein wrote the full obituary for Don Newcombe for today’s print edition.

Depending on how you define who was a member of the “Boys of Summer,” a term used by Roger Kahn in his excellent 1972 book, there are still a handful left from that 1956 team for which Newcombe won the NL MVP and Cy Young awards at the age of 30 (at the time there was only one CYA for both leagues. In fact, Newcombe was the very first recipient of that honor). Carl Erskine, another Dodgers mainstay, is 92. Sandy Koufax, pictured below, was 20 at the time, still trying to find his way. He just celebrated his 83rd birthday late last year. Other “Bums” from their one and only World Championship team include Randy Jackson, 93, the starting third baseman who played in 101 games that year, and Bob Aspromonte, who struck out in his debut (and only) at bat as an 18-year-old and didn’t return to the majors until 1960.

Other obituaries from major outlets:

• Washington Post
• Los Angeles Times
• The Sporting News
• Bleacher Report
• NJ.com (Newcombe was born and raised in the Garden State)

Sad that Newcombe — who also won Rookie of the Year in 1949 and is one of only two pitchers to win the ROY, CYA, and MVP (Justin Verlander is the other one) — doesn’t merit a mention on the opening page for Sports Illustrated or ESPN.

Although “Newk” was a staple of the Dodgers’ rotation and he is included in most of the books about those clubs, there is no book solely about him. Also sad given his experiences.

Tagged as: Boys of Summer, Brooklyn Dodgers, Don Newcombe