This Week in Baseball History: 11/22 – 11/28

This week in baseball history features two events that have had a lasting impact on the game today.

On November 22nd, 1954, the Pittsburgh Pirates signed eventual Hall of Fame outfielder Roberto Clemente. Two years later, on November 27th, 1956, the inaugural Cy Young Award was presented to Don Newcombe. Clemente would go on to become one of the greatest to ever play the game and Newcombe would be a trailblazer for the black community.

November 22, 1954:

Roberto Clemente was a natural born athlete. At the age of 17, he was playing on a professional baseball team in Puerto Rico, his native country. At eighteen, he was signed by the Brooklyn Dodgers and by the age of twenty, he was playing for their minor league affiliate in Montreal. The Dodgers did not know what they had in Clemente and did not feature him on their major league roster going into the 1954-55 offseason. As a result, the Pittsburg Pirates were able to claim him in the Rule 5 draft for $4,000.

Roberto Clemente was unlike any player to play the game. He was faster than most men, he boasted a strong arm and his bat found contact while others could only whiff at the ball. His first five seasons with the Pirates were a struggle for him. He was new to the country and couldn’t speak much English, a barrier that many Latin ball players face when they arrive in the U.S. for the first time.

Credit: MLB.com

When he finally found his rhythm in 1960, he batted .312 with a team leading 94 RBIs. He aided in the Pirates’ defeat of the New York Yankees in a classic seven-game World Series. It would be eleven years until Clemente would taste championship glory again. This time, at 37 years of age, he led the team with a .414 average in the series en route to another seven-game victory over the Baltimore Orioles.

In his career, Clemente manned right field in Pittsburgh like nobody’s business. He collected an astounding twelve straight Gold Gloves at the position, won the National League MVP in 1966 and took home four NL batting titles. He reached the 3,000 hit plateau late in the 1972 season.

On December 31st, 1972 Clemente lost his life when his plane destined for Nicaragua crashed off the coast of Puerto Rico.

Clemente was on his way to deliver lifesaving supplies to those in need after a devastating earthquake rocked the small nation. Roberto Clemente believed that part of being a baseball player and a human being in general included giving back to the community and helping in any way that you could. As a testament to his impact on the game and the baseball community, the BBWA exempted him from the mandatory five-year waiting period to be elected into the Hall of Fame. Less than a year after his passing, his legacy was enshrined in the hallowed halls of Cooperstown.

Mr. Clemente was a true ambassador of the game, and he was truly one of the best human beings to ever play it. As a testament to his character, each year a player is honored with the Roberto Clemente Award. This award is given to the player who “best exemplifies the game of baseball, sportsmanship, community involvement and the individual’s contribution to his team.” The most recent recipient is Andrew McCutchen, coincidentally a member of Clemente’s former team.

The impact that Roberto Clemente had on the game is still felt in today. Now more than ever we see baseball players helping their communities. Beyond the game, Clemente received awards for his service to the community.  In May of 1973, he posthumously received the Roberto Walker Clemente Congressional Gold Medal and the Presidential Citizens Medal. In July of 2003, Clemente would receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom to complete the trifecta of three of the highest civilian honors a person can be given in the United States.

Roberto Clemente will not be forgotten any time soon. He is the quintessential man. A class act that will forever be admired and adored in the game of baseball and the world.

November 27, 1956:

Cy Young is the greatest pitcher to ever play the game of baseball. There is absolutely no denying this. Some may dispute it based on the era he played in, but they are wrong. Any man that can rack up a career 511 wins should be considered the greatest. He holds the record for wins (511), losses (316), games started (815), complete games (749), and innings pitched (7356), to name just a few. It is no wonder that the annual award for best pitcher in the league was named after him.

The 1956 season saw the first ever Cy Young Award given to the best pitcher in baseball. For 1956, that man was Don Newcombe. In the 1956 season Newcombe not only won the inaugural Cy Young Award, but he also won the National League Most Valuable Player Award. It was by no short feat that he won both of these awards. He compiled a record of 27-7 with a 3.06 ERA and five shutouts. He completed eighteen of the thirty six games he started, an achievement that would be unheard of in the today’s game.

Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports

When he debuted in 1949, Newcombe joined Jackie Robinson and Roy Campanella as three of the few African American baseball players in the league. In 1946, he played for the Nashua Dodgers, the first integrated baseball team in the US in the 20th century. Along with Robinson, Campanella, and Larry Doby, Newcombe became one of the first four black players to be elected to the All-Star Game.

Newcombe and Justin Verlander of the Detroit Tigers are the only two players in baseball history that have won the Rookie of the Year, Cy Young and MVP. On top of being an outstanding pitcher he was also a force to be reckoned with at the plate. In his career, he batted .271 and had fifteen home runs, including seven in the summer of 1955.

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Don Newcombe was more than a baseball player. He is also a veteran of our armed forces. He missed the 1952 and 1953 season because he was serving time in the military. We can never forget that so many players took time out of the peaks of their careers to serve their country. It is one of the most honorable things a man can do and each man who has made this sacrifice should never be forgotten.