With Don Newcombe's recent passing I thought now would be an opportune time to take a closer look at the various Dodger collectibles bearing his name. As you know, he joined the franchise prior to the 1946 season and remained Blue til being traded to Cincinnati in 1958. Following a few more years of play in the Majors and Japan he rejoined the club in the late-70's as the team's Director of Community Affairs -- where he remained until his death this week.As you can imagine, there are plenty of cards and memorabilia featuring the 6' 4" righty (but not as much as you might think), so sit back and enjoy a more detailed look at some Don Newcombe collectibles. BTW, I decided to include only Dodgers-related items, so you won't see the Reds or Indians anywhere. Furthermore, I wanted to stick to just pre-80's stuff, so you shouldn't expect to find any modern cards in the listing below. On the other hand, I do include the handful of giveaways from Dodger Stadium (and elsewhere). I'll also update this post should any additional items unknown to me be unearthed.
Now, on to the memorabilia.
The very first item I could find that featured Don Newcombe is not a Baseball card. Instead, it's a stamp. Released in 1949 by a chain of Philadelphia gas stations, Eureka Sportstamps features 200 National League ballplayers and a stamp book (measuring 7 ½-by-9 ¼) to put them in. They also include Kodachrome photos on the stamps -- which was rare for collectors at the time. As you know, cards were either in black & white or color paintings. Below is a look at the stamp that has been pasted onto the album.
1949 Eureka Sportstamps
