Don Newcombe

Pitcher · Career Stats, Bio & Records (1949-1960)

Don Newcombe was a pitcher who played in Major League Baseball from 1949 to 1960 for 5 teams, including the Newark Eagles, a span of 12 seasons. Across 359 career appearances, he went 153-96 with a 3.57 ERA and 1,185 strikeouts. He also batted .269 with 15 home runs. Don Newcombe was a 4-time All-Star, an MVP, a Cy Young, and a Rookie of the Year. His totals include Negro Leagues seasons, which MLB recognized as major league in 2020. His career PIV — Baseball Data Hub's era-adjusted measure of offensive impact — is 42.

W (Wins):
Games credited to a pitcher whose team took a lead it never surrendered while he was the pitcher of record.
ERA (Earned Run Average):
Earned runs allowed per nine innings pitched: (ER × 9) ÷ IP. The primary measure of pitching effectiveness.
SO (Strikeouts):
For a batter, times retired on a third strike; for a pitcher, batters retired on a third strike.
WHIP (Walks and Hits per Inning Pitched):
Baserunners allowed per inning: (BB + H) ÷ IP. Under 1.00 is elite.

Data updated

W–L 153–96
ERA 3.57
WHIP 1.21
SO 1,185
Pitcher PIV 20183.8
Position
Pitcher
Bats / Throws
L / R
Height / Weight
6'4" / 220 lb
Born
6/14/1926 in Madison, NJ, USA
Died
2/19/2019 in Sherman Oaks, CA, USA
MLB Debut
1949-05-20
Last Game
1960-10-01
Awards
4× All-Star · MVP · Cy Young · Rookie of the Year

Full name: Donald Newcombe

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Negro Leagues Career Statistics

Batting

Don Newcombe — Batting
PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB BA OBP SLG OPS
61.0 55.0 8.0 13.0 1.0 0 0 4.0 5.0 0 0 .236 .311 .255 .566

Pitching

Don Newcombe — Pitching
W L GS CG GF SV IP H R ER HR BB SO ERA WHIP
13 10 27 20 7 0 206.1 146 99 32 9 63 90 1.40 1.01

Career Pitching Statistics

Don Newcombe — Career Pitching Statistics
W L G GS CG SHO SV IP H ER HR BB SO ERA Pitcher PIV
153 96 359 305 145 24 7 2247.0 2,185 891 255 528 1,185 3.57 20183.8

Career ERA 3.57 vs. league average 3.91 across their career seasons — 8.7% better than league average.

Season-by-Season Pitching

Pitching Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Don Newcombe Stats, Bio & Career Records
Year Team Lg W L G GS CG SHO SV IP H ER BB SO ERA Lg ERA Pitcher PIV
1944 NE NN2 1 3 8 5 3 0 0 37.0 40 23 22 23 5.59 3.57 (-57%) -545.8
1945 NE NN2 3 3 7 6 6 0 0 55.1 43 16 16 33 2.60 3.67 (+29%) 1304.2
1949 BRO NL 17 8 38 31 19 5 1 244.1 223 86 73 149 3.17 4.12 (+23%) 6360.0
1950 BRO NL 19 11 40 35 20 4 3 267.1 258 110 75 130 3.70 4.36 (+15%) 5750.5
1951 BRO NL 20 9 40 36 18 3 0 272.0 235 99 91 164 3.28 4.04 (+19%) 5677.7
1954 BRO NL 9 8 29 25 6 0 0 144.1 158 73 49 82 4.55 3.90 (-17%) -2340.3
1955 BRO NL 20 5 34 31 17 1 0 233.2 222 83 38 143 3.20 4.00 (+20%) 2494.4
1956 BRO NL 27 7 38 36 18 5 0 268.0 219 91 46 139 3.06 3.96 (+23%) 3425.4
1957 BRO NL 11 12 28 28 12 4 0 198.2 199 77 33 90 3.49 3.83 (+9%) -313.6
1958 LAN NL 0 6 11 8 1 0 0 34.1 53 30 8 16 7.86 3.86 (-104%) -2186.1
1958 CIN NL 7 7 20 18 7 0 1 133.1 159 57 28 53 3.85 3.86 (avg) -1407.8
1959 CIN NL 13 8 30 29 17 2 1 222.0 216 78 27 100 3.16 3.90 (+19%) 2125.9
1960 CIN NL 4 6 16 15 1 0 0 82.2 99 42 14 36 4.57 3.82 (-20%) -708.7
1960 CLE AL 2 3 20 2 0 0 1 54.0 61 26 8 27 4.33 3.82 (-14%) 548.1
Career · 14 seasons 153 96 359 305 145 24 7 2,247.0 2,185 891 528 1,185 3.57 — 20,184

Lg columns show the league average for that season, with the player's figure as a percentage above or below it. Career totals the seasons listed above.

Career Batting Statistics

Don Newcombe — Career Batting Statistics
G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO AVG OBP SLG OPS PIV
470 916 99 246 34 3 15 109 2 90 147 .269 .336 .361 .698 42

Career AVG .269 vs. league average .260 across their career seasons — near league average.

Career OBP .336 vs. league average .331 across their career seasons — near league average.

Career SLG .361 vs. league average .385 across their career seasons — 6.1% below league average.

Career OPS .698 vs. league average .716 across their career seasons — near league average.

Season-by-Season Batting

Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Don Newcombe Stats, Bio & Career Records
Year Team Lg G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO AVG Lg AVG Lg OBP Lg SLG Lg OPS PIV
1944 NE NN2 8 14 2 4 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 .286 — — — — 0.0
1945 NE NN2 10 24 3 4 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 .167 — — — — 0.0
1949 BRO NL 39 96 8 22 4 0 0 10 0 5 16 .229 .262 (-13%) .343 (-22%) .384 (-29%) .727 (-26%) -415.5
1950 BRO NL 40 97 8 24 3 1 1 8 0 10 19 .247 .265 (-7%) .346 (-8%) .401 (-18%) .747 (-13%) -215.3
1951 BRO NL 40 103 11 23 3 1 0 8 0 8 9 .223 .260 (-14%) .336 (-15%) .385 (-29%) .721 (-23%) -375.2
1954 BRO NL 31 47 6 15 1 0 0 4 0 4 6 .319 — — — — -10.2
1955 BRO NL 57 117 18 42 9 1 7 23 1 6 18 .359 .258 (+39%) .332 (+19%) .393 (+61%) .726 (+42%) 810.0
1956 BRO NL 52 111 13 26 6 0 2 16 1 12 18 .234 .258 (-9%) .331 (-6%) .397 (-14%) .728 (-10%) -176.9
1957 BRO NL 34 74 8 17 2 0 1 7 0 11 11 .230 .257 (-11%) .323 (+2%) .391 (-24%) .715 (-12%) -109.4
1958 LAN NL 11 12 2 5 0 0 0 0 0 2 2 .417 — — — — 0.0
1958 CIN NL 39 60 9 21 1 0 1 9 0 8 10 .350 .257 (+36%) .324 (+29%) .394 (+6%) .719 (+16%) 0.0
1959 CIN NL 61 105 10 32 2 0 3 21 0 17 23 .305 .256 (+19%) .323 (+24%) .392 (+4%) .715 (+13%) 329.4
1960 CIN NL 24 36 0 5 1 0 0 1 0 3 8 .139 — — — — 0.0
1960 CLE AL 24 20 1 6 1 0 0 1 0 1 7 .300 — — — — 0.0
Career · 14 seasons 470 916 99 246 34 3 15 109 2 90 147 .269 — — — — -163

Lg columns show the league average for that season, with the player's figure as a percentage above or below it. Career totals the seasons listed above.

Postseason Statistics

Playoff Career Batting

Don Newcombe — Playoff Career Batting
G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO AVG
5 8 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 .000

Playoff Batting by Year

Don Newcombe — Playoff Batting by Year
Year Round Team G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO AVG
1956 WS BRO 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
1955 WS BRO 1 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
1949 WS BRO 2 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 .000

Playoff Career Pitching

Don Newcombe — Playoff Career Pitching
W L G GS SV IP H ER BB SO ERA
0 4 5 5 0 22.0 29 21 8 19 8.59

Playoff Pitching by Year

Don Newcombe — Playoff Pitching by Year
Year Round Team W L G GS SV IP H ER BB SO ERA
1956 WS BRO 0 1 2 2 0 4.2 11 11 3 4 21.21
1955 WS BRO 0 1 1 1 0 5.2 8 6 2 4 9.53
1949 WS BRO 0 2 2 2 0 11.2 10 4 3 11 3.09

Game Log & Splits

View full game log (854 games) →

Per-game data from Retrosheet (regular season, through 2025).

Batting — Home / Away

Don Newcombe — Batting — Home / Away
SplitGABRHHRRBIAVG
Home23841249111850.269
Away24550952140762.275

Pitching — Home / Away

Don Newcombe — Pitching — Home / Away
SplitGIPHERBBSOERA
Home1811119.210804112636293.30
Away1901190.111454632795603.50

Last 10 Games — Batting

Don Newcombe — Last 10 Games — Batting
DateTmOppResABRH2B3BHRRBIBBSO
1960-10-01 CLECHWW 000000000
1960-09-26 CLEKC1L 000000000
1960-09-24 CLECHWW 100000001
1960-09-20 CLEDETL 101000000
1960-09-18 CLEKC1L 100000001
1960-09-13 CLEBOSW 200000000
1960-09-11 CLENYYL 100000000
1960-09-09 CLEMINL 101000000
1960-09-08 CLEBALL 000000000
1960-09-06 CLEDETW 000000000

Last 10 Games — Pitching

Don Newcombe — Last 10 Games — Pitching
DateTmOppDecIPHRERBBSOHR
1960-10-01 CLECHW — 0.1100000
1960-09-26 CLEKC1 — 2.0522010
1960-09-24 CLECHW — 3.0200020
1960-09-20 CLEDET — 4.0411001
1960-09-18 CLEKC1 — 2.0000010
1960-09-13 CLEBOS W 5.1500130
1960-09-09 CLEMIN — 3.0633031
1960-09-08 CLEBAL — 1.0000000
1960-09-06 CLEDET — 1.1422000
1960-09-05 CLEDET — 1.0000020

Fielding Statistics

Career Fielding Totals by Position

Don Newcombe — Career Fielding Totals by Position
Position G GS PO A E DP
P 359 203 161 341 22 28

Season-by-Season Fielding

Don Newcombe — Season-by-Season Fielding
Year Team Pos G GS PO A E DP
1944 NE P 8 5 0 15 1 1
1945 NE P 7 6 2 13 3 0
1949 BRO P 38 0 17 40 0 2
1950 BRO P 40 0 19 43 2 3
1951 BRO P 40 0 24 45 3 3
1954 BRO P 29 25 11 16 2 2
1955 BRO P 34 31 15 24 4 5
1956 BRO P 38 36 25 39 1 5
1957 BRO P 28 28 13 41 2 1
1958 LAN P 11 8 2 6 0 0
1958 CIN P 20 18 9 13 0 2
1959 CIN P 30 29 14 31 1 4
1960 CIN P 16 15 6 11 2 0
1960 CLE P 20 2 4 4 1 0

Career Games by Position

Position Diamond

Circle size = games played at each position.

Don Newcombe Stats, Bio & Career Records
Position Games
Pitcher 359

Awards & Honors

Don Newcombe — Awards & Honors
Year Award Notes
1956 Cy Young Award
1956 Most Valuable Player
1956 TSN All-Star P
1956 TSN Pitcher of the Year
1955 TSN All-Star P
1949 Baseball Magazine All-Star P3
1949 Rookie of the Year
1949 TSN Rookie of the Year

Award Voting History

Don Newcombe — Award Voting History
Year Award League Finish Points Won Points Max Votes First
1956 Cy Young Award ML 1st 10.0 16 10
1956 Most Valuable Player NL 1st 223.0 336 8
1955 Most Valuable Player NL 7th 89.0 336 0
1951 Most Valuable Player NL 22th 3.0 336 0
1950 Most Valuable Player NL 18th 14.0 336 0
1949 Most Valuable Player NL 8th 55.0 336 0
1949 Rookie of the Year NL 1st 21.0 24 21

Most Similar Players

Career comps based on counting + rate stats and primary position. Score is relative — closest peer anchors at ~98%.

Career Spans

Don Newcombe (highlighted) compared to peers across the same era.

  1. 98
    Dick Donovan
    122-99, 3.67 ERA
  2. 94
    Preacher Roe
    127-84, 3.43 ERA
  3. 94
    Bryn Smith
    108-94, 3.53 ERA
  4. 93
    Frank Lary
    128-116, 3.49 ERA
  5. 93
    Bill Monbouquette
    114-112, 3.68 ERA
  6. 92
    Ralph Terry
    107-99, 3.62 ERA

Compare Don Newcombe

Side-by-side career stat comparisons against Newcombe's closest peers by position and era.

vs Cy Young
vs Walter Johnson
vs Pedro Martinez
vs Curt Schilling
vs Clayton Kershaw
vs Christy Mathewson

Browse all MLB player comparisons →

Don Newcombe: the record in brief

Don Newcombe appears in the season tables from 1944, when the club was a Negro Leagues team; the bio's debut date, May 20, 1949, marks the first game in the American or National League era of the record, and the final game as October 1, 1960. Newcombe played for the Newark Eagles (1944 through 1945), the Brooklyn Dodgers (1949 through 1957), the Los Angeles Dodgers (1958), the Cincinnati Redlegs (1958 through 1959), the Cincinnati Reds (1960), and the Cleveland Indians (1960). The bio lists Newcombe as a pitcher who threw right-handed and batted left-handed. The recorded size is 6'4" and 220 pounds. Newcombe was born on June 14, 1926, in Madison, NJ, USA. The bio records the death on February 19, 2019, in Sherman Oaks, CA, USA. Newcombe's full given name, per the bio, is Donald Newcombe.

Newcombe went 153-96 with a 3.57 ERA in 359 games, 305 of them starts. Newcombe had 1,185 strikeouts, 145 complete games, and 24 shutouts.

Frequently Asked Questions about Don Newcombe

What years did Don Newcombe play?
Don Newcombe played in Major League Baseball from 1949 to 1960.
Was Don Newcombe a pitcher?
Yes. Don Newcombe pitched in the major leagues, recording 153 wins and 1185 strikeouts.
How many home runs did Don Newcombe hit?
Don Newcombe hit 15 career home runs with 246 hits.
What was Don Newcombe's career batting average?
Don Newcombe batted .269 over his career, with 246 hits in 916 at bats.
How many RBI did Don Newcombe have?
Don Newcombe drove in 109 runs in his career.
What was Don Newcombe's career ERA?
Don Newcombe finished with a 3.57 career ERA, going 153-96 with 1,185 strikeouts.