Collection: Don Newcombe Fleer Greats

Don Newcombe was as great as they come. During his rookie season with the Dodgers he won 17 games while on his way to 1949 Rookie of the Year honors. Then, in 1956, he reached his peak by winning the MVP and CY Young awards with 27 wins. That season he would became the first player to win the Rookie of the Year award, MVP and Cy Young in their career. In fact, he was the lone member of that club until Justin Verlander won the Cy Young and MVP awards last year.

Of Special Note: There is a great recent article by Ken Gurnick at MLB that focuses on Newcombe and Campanella being the first African-American ballplayers in Class A ball. It's a great read.

"My wife and I came out of a movie and saw a headline in the New York Post, I'll never forget it, and it said that Montreal had signed Jackie Robinson," said Newcombe, now 85 and a special advisor to Dodgers chairman Frank McCourt. "I knew this was the beginning of change. I said to my wife, maybe this is a chance for me and Roy."

Featured in this post is a 2004 Fleer Greats autographed card in my collection.