TRUE BLUE AMBASSADOR NEWCOMBE PROUD TO BE A DODGER SINCE '49.

Byline: JILL PAINTER Staff Writer

Don Newcombe wakes up at 5:30 each morning, pours a glass of orange juice and reads three newspapers. He does the crossword puzzle in each of them. He uses pen, not pencil, to avoid hasty guesses.

Newcombe, 80, then goes on his daily walk and gets ready for work.

He usually wears a designer suit. On a day in early September, he sat in the Dodgers' dugout, looking fine in a creme-colored jacket, white monogrammed shirt with light pinstripes, creme-colored socks, creme-colored shoes, a canary yellow handkerchief and a matching creme-colored hat.

He's always dressed for success, but on that day, Newcombe was being honored on the 50th anniversary of his MVP and CyYoung Award season in 1956. Unlike many decorated ex-players, this anniversary isn't just about celebrating athletic achievement. With Newcombe, it's more about honoring his tireless work as the Dodgers' community relations director, a job he's had since 1970.

Newcombe is just as big in the organization and just as visible as he was as a player. He gives tours of Dodger Stadium and motivational speeches, and raises money for charity. He now considers his most important job to teach children about the impact the early black players had on the game of baseball and life.

Breaking the barrier

As the first African American pitcher in the major leagues, he helped break the color barrier, and not just on the baseball field.

``Sixty years ago, I became a part of changing the makeup of baseball with Jackie Robinson and Roy Campanella,'' Newcombe said. ``They can't talk about it now. I can. I wish more people would know about the Dodgers and what they did and the rich history they have.

``Jackie, Roy and I felt like people needed us. We had to succeed. So many people depended on us -- people of color all over the world.''

Newcombe is troubled because Jackie Robinson isn't in many historical textbooks that schools use. So, he brings books about Robinson to schools when he has speaking engagements and sends books to other schools, particularly in the South.

There was no official community relations department in any baseball organization, so 36 years ago, Newcombe said he wrote a proposal for one to Peter O'Malley, the former Dodger owner. O'Malley created the position and Newcombe made $5,000 his first year.

``I needed the Dodgers and the Dodgers needed me,'' Newcombe said. ``The Dodgers mean more to me than baseball. They're part of my intestines. They're part of my insides. As long as I've been here, they've always been good to me.''

For about 30 games a year, Newcombe plays host to lucky baseball fans at Dodger Stadium. He gives them a tour, takes them on the field and helps them get autographs. It's rare to find a player who says no to Newcombe.

``What makes the Dodgers so unique is the length, the breadth and the depth of the relationship the organization has with the community,'' Dodgers owner Frank McCourt said. ``Someone like Don takes that from an abstract notion and makes it real to people. He's been walking the walk for a long, long time.''

After one season in the Negro Leagues, Newcombe debuted with the Dodgers in Brooklyn in 1949 and became the first African American pitcher to start a World Series game that year. He helped the Dodgers to the World Series title in 1955. He won 20 games three times, threw 18 complete games and was a 27-game winner in 1956.

``Don never complained,'' said Tommy Lasorda, his former teammate. ``He knew what he had to go through. He never complained, but I'm sure he didn't like a certain amount of things. That's understandable. He went about his business. He loved his batterymate, Roy Campanella. He, Jackie and Roy, those three guys were so pleased that they were in the major leagues. They exemplified class and character. He's an extension of the Brooklyn era and L.A. era.''

`Change one letter'

Newcombe has devoted his life to carrying on the work of Robinson and Campanella.

``What they did to make it better for all people, not just baseball,'' Newcombe said. ``They changed the way things were. Jackie Robinson made me understand. He said, `We're bitter now, but one day we're going to change one letter in the word bitter and be better. We're going to have to make it happen, and we're going to take our time making it happen.' ''

Newcombe said he'll sit in his office by himself and take a stroll down memory lane, remembering the good times and bad. He never writes anything down, but he rarely forgets anything. He gives sensational motivational speeches. Once, he wrote a speech for a group of students and fumbled through it. Midway, he threw his speech in the air to a roar of applause. He's spoken from the heart since then.

Listen to him talk for an hour and you'll hear so many fascinating stories, including how Martin Luther King Jr. had dinner at the Newcombe residence 28 days before he was assassinated in 1968.

``He told me, `You don't know how easy you and Jackie and Roy made it for me to do my job,' '' Newcombe recalled.

Newcombe spoke at the White House. He met Haile Selassie, the former emperor of Ethiopia, who wanted Newcombe to teach Ethiopian children the game of baseball. Although Newcombe didn't know it, he impressed L.A. City Councilman Herb Wesson, who initiated a resolution to honor Newcombe.

A huge impression

Wesson has met Newcombe just three times. He was treated to one of his motivational speeches as a campaign manager for Nate Holden. He remembered Newcombe arriving on a bicycle.

He met Newcombe again at a Ladera Little League game. Wesson threw out the first pitch at the opening of a field, and Newcombe was his catcher. They met again at a golf outing.

Wesson can't wait to meet him again on the floor of the City Council.

``Some people, and thank God for them, believe when you've been blessed to live a successful life that you have a responsibility and you can't turn your back on others,'' Wesson said. ``You try to create opportunities for others. He does not have to do this. No one would speak ill of him. But it's his commitment to other people, that's why it's important.

``Even younger kids who never really knew his name or don't know what he did, when they hear the stories from their parents or grandparents, they're in awe. He's a living legend.''

Newcombe is the only player in major-league history to win the Cy Young, MVP and Rookie of the Year awards, an accomplishment of which he is proud.

It's a popular trivia question. On a Dodgers broadcast last season, play-by-play man Charley Steiner said he was about to ask a trivia question about Newcombe and wanted to know if anyone could guess the question. Analyst Steve Lyons quipped:

``Who's the best-dressed 80-year-old man you've ever seen?''

Sharp-dressed man

Newcombe wore his older brother's tattered clothes and shoes with holes in them when he was a child. He promised himself that if he could ever afford it, he'd have closets full of nice clothes. He's one of the best-dressed men in baseball. McCourt joked his nickname should be ``Dapper Don.''

Even in his golf gear, he's fashionable. At the Dodgers' annual charity golf tournament at Trump National Golf Club in Rancho Palos Verdes, he interrupted the charity auction to sell a day with himself at Dodger Stadium. It sold for $2,000 to a man who had already purchased a day with Newcombe.

Newcombe once sold a two-person package for an outing with him for $20,000. The money all goes to charity.

``I'm proud because I've been here such a long time,'' Newcombe said. ``There could be a Dodgers without Don Newcombe, but I don't know if Don Newcombe would be very happy without the Dodgers.''

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3 photos

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(1 -- 2 -- color) no caption (Don Newcombe)

(3 -- color) Dodgers owners Frank and Jamie McCourt present Don Newcombe with a certificate honoring his many years of service.

Photos courtesy of the Dodgers

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