Don Newcombe to receive Major League Baseball's Beacon of Hope Award
Award will be presented tomorrow by Dodger All-Star Matt Kemp as a part of Delta Civil Rights Game Weekend as Dodgers take on Braves
LOS ANGELES - Former Dodger pitcher and current Special Advisor to the Chairman Don Newcombe will be presented with Major League Baseball's Beacon of Hope Award at the MLB Beacon Awards Luncheon presented by Belk at 1:00 p.m. ET tomorrow at the Hyatt Regency Atlanta. Newcombe will be honored along with the founding members of Earth, Wind & Fire, who will receive the Beacon of Change Award, and Congressman John Lewis, who will receive the Beacon of Life Award.
"It's quite an appreciated honor and I am so happy to join all the former recipients of this prestigious award," said Newcombe. "Surely, my thanks go out to my Los Angeles Dodgers, Commissioner Bud Selig and the selection committee for making it all possible."
Newcombe is one of only two players in baseball history to win the Rookie of the Year, Most Valuable Player and Cy Young Awards, and also played alongside Hall of Famers Roy Campanella, Larry Doby and Jackie Robinson as the first African American pitcher in a Major League All-Star Game (1949).
Dodger center fielder Matt Kemp will present Newcombe with the award and many Dodger guests will be in attendance at the luncheon, including Chairman and Owner Mark Walter, team President and CEO Stan Kasten, Owner Bobby Patton, executive Vice President Bob Wolfe, Dodger General Manager Ned Colletti, Dodger Manager Don Mattingly, coaches Trey Hillman, Davey Lopes, Ken Howell, and Manny Mota, players Andre Ethier, Hanley Ramirez and James Loney and broadcasters Rick Monday and Charley Steiner.
The MLB Beacon Awards Luncheon is one of many events that will be held in the Atlanta area as a part of Delta Civil Rights Game Weekend, which includes the Civil Rights Game between the Dodgers and Braves tomorrow night. The 7:10 p.m. ET game at Turner Field will air locally on PRIME TICKET and nationally on MLB Network. The game will feature special pre-game ceremonies recognizing the 2012 MLB Beacon Award recipients and on-field performances of patriotic songs.
The 2012 Delta Civil Rights Game and ancillary activities is the sixth installation of an annual event that began in Memphis in 2007, centering on an exhibition game between the St. Louis Cardinals and Cleveland Indians. After another exhibition game in Memphis in 2008, the Civil Rights Game and ancillary events moved to Cincinnati in 2009 and 2010 and Atlanta in 2011 as regular season contests. As home to many key leaders and organizations of the civil rights movement, and as a location for many of the movement's grassroots activities, Atlanta played a critical role in this period of American history.