NEWCOMBE SEEMS SATISFIEDDon Newcombe (left), rookie pitcher who was a key man in the Brooklyn Dodgers' 1949 pennant drive, smiles happily after signing a one-year contract at the Dodgers office here today. Branch Rickey, president fo the National League champions, looks on, apparently well satisfied wiht the stroke of business. Newcombe's 1950 salary is estimated at $13,000. DATE: 2-9-1950 ORIGINAL or REPRINT: Type 3 - Second or later-generation photo, printed from a duplicate negative or wire photo process, within about 2 years of when it was shot TEAM: Brooklyn Dodgers SUBJECTS: Don Newcombe, Branch Rickey ISSUER: Associated Press APPROXIMATE SIZE: 10"x8-1/8" NUMBER OF PHOTOS: 1 COMMENTS / CONDITION: This is one of a large accumulation of vintage sports photographs, slides and negatives that we will be listing over the coming months. Wear on these, if any, is mostly confined to minor corner and edge wear, but see scans for further details including condition. We do not deal in stock images or modern reprints, and all scans shown are of the actual vintage photograph, slide or negative being sold. If you have any questions about a particular piece, please ask before the auction ends. BIO: Donald Newcombe (Newk) was born in 1926 in Madison, NJ and died in 2019 in Santa Monica, CA. He played major league baseball from 1949 to 1960 as pitcher for the Brooklyn Dodgers, Los Angeles Dodgers, Cincinnati Reds and the Cleveland Indians, appeared in the 1949, 1955 and 1956 World Series, and was selected 4 times as an All-Star. Newcombe was the 1949 National League Rookie of the Year earned a Cy Young, National League MVP and Pitcher of the Year honors for his performance during the 1956 season. After retiring from the major leagues, he played for the Chunichi Dragons in Japan in 1962 as a first baseman and outfielder. He later worked in the front office of the Dodgers. Wesley Branch Rickey (The Mahatma) was born in 1881 in Flat, OH and died in 1965 in Columbia, MO. He went to college at Ohio Wesleyan University. He played major league baseball from 1905 to 1914 as catcher, outfielder and 1st baseman for the St. Louis Browns and the New York Highlanders, and was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1965. Branch Rickey was a baseball player, manager, and executive who was the driving force behind two of the most important changes in baseball in the 20th Century: the development of the farm system and the end of baseball's color line. In 1913, Rickey returned to the Browns, this time as an executive. He served as manager at the end of the 1913 season. The Browns crept out of the cellar under Rickey in 1914 and 1915, but they remained in the second division. Rickey was fired when Phil Ball, former owner of the Federal League St. Louis Terriers, was allowed to buy the team in 1916. After 3 years in the military during WWI, he returned to St. Louis baseball in 1919, this time with the Cardinals. As president and manager, Rickey brought the team to its first sustained success in over 30 years; the 1921 and 1922 teams were the first since the 1890 and 1891 versions to finish with winning records in consecutive seasons. Rickey also began to work on the rudiments of baseball's first farm system. Starting in 1921, the Cardinals began buying interests in minor league teams. With ownership of the minor league teams, the team was able to control the development of players from the time they were signed as amateurs until they were ready to play in the majors. While the farm system was originally seen as a way of reducing the cost of acquiring players, much of its success was attributable to the improved instruction the players received along the way. Rickey was deeply committed to education and constantly worked to improve methods of teaching young players how to play. Cardinals' owner Sam Breadon correctly recognized that Rickey was overstretching himself by trying to run the front office and manage the team simultaneously. After unsuccessfully trying to convince Rickey to step down as manager, Breadon finally replaced him with Rogers Hornsby early in the 1925 season. Rickey reputedly told Breadon that firing him as manager would ruin him. Breadon replied that he was doing Rickey "the greatest favor one man ever did for another." Time would prove Breadon, not Rickey, correct. Freed from his duties as field manager, Rickey was able to devote his intelligence and energy to the job of building the Cardinals into a dynasty. In 1926, Hornsby led the Cardinals to their first pennant since 1888, and their first post-season triumph since 1886. The Cardinals growing farm system continued to churn out talent, and they team remained an on-field success. They won the NL pennant again in 1928, 1930, 1931, and 1934, with World Series victories in 1931 and 1934. After the 1942 season, Rickey moved to the Brooklyn Dodgers where he followed much the same course with the Dodgers that he had with the Cardinals. While other teams were reluctant to sign young players who were likely to be called off to the war, Rickey remained aggressive in signing them. He understood that the war would be over eventually and aggressive signing would ensure that the Dodgers would have the best talent when it ended. He also began a quiet process of scouting for African American players. After several years of scouting, Rickey announced the signing of Jackie Robinson to the Dodgers AAA farm team, the Montreal Royals, on October 23, 1945. Rickey's decision to sign Robinson was a tremendous success. Robinson won the International League MVP with Montreal in 1946 and the NL Rookie of the Year award with the Dodgers in 1947. The Dodgers were equally successful, winning the NL pennant in 1947 and again in 1949. Walter O'Malley forced Rickey out as head of the Dodgers in 1950, but he quickly returned with the Pittsburgh Pirates. He was not the quick success with the Pirates that he had been with the Dodgers or even the Cardinals, but he did build up the team's farm system and was responsible for the Pirates acquiring such greats as Roberto Clemente, Bill Mazeroski, and Dick Groat, who led the team to victory in the World Series after he left the team. The oddest part of his term in Pittsburgh was Rickey's attempt to trade Pirates star Ralph Kiner. The Pirates owners were reluctant to let Rickey trade their greatest star and top box-office draw, so he launched a campaign to destroy Kiner's value in the eyes of ownership and fans to make him tradeable. Rickey left the Pirates in 1955. He returned to baseball in 1959 in connection with the proposed Continental League. The CL was not successful itself, but the threat of a rival third major league forced MLB's hand and drove the 1961 and 1962 expansions. After the CL, Rickey ended his career in baseball as a special advisor to Cardinals' owner August Busch. SKU: X03344
Item: X03344
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