A great major league pitcher who got his start in the Negro Leagues, Don Newcombe passed away today. Newcombe was an inspiration to many, including President Barack Obama. Here is a section from my book, Legacy, about the men Newcombe helped inspire:

…President Obama has an appreciation of the men who battled for the integration of baseball. And in fact, Obama said of two Negro League veterans at a fundraising event in 2010: “I would not be here if it were not for Jackie (Robinson) and it were not for Don Newcombe.”

Obama went out of his way at the event to meet Newcombe, who followed closely behind Robinson when blacks broke into the major leagues. After two seasons with the Newark Eagles, Newcombe signed a minor league contract with the Dodgers in 1946, before Robinson had played a game in Brooklyn. Showing his gratitude for the groundbreaking pitcher, the president called the former MVP “my hall of famer,” even though Newcombe is not in fact enshrined in Cooperstown.

But Obama was not the only groundbreaking African American in the public sector to pay the ultimate compliment to Newcombe.

“In 1968, Martin (Luther King) had dinner at my house with my family,” Newcombe told Cal Fussman in After Jackie. “This was 28 days before he was assassinated. He said to me, ‘Don, I don’t know what I would’ve done without you guys setting up the minds of people for change. You, Jackie and Roy (Campanella) will never know how easy you made it for me to do my job.’”