Bill Plaschke: Don Newcombe's toughness helped him overcome hate and become a legend
LOS ANGELES - He could have been the angriest man at Dodger Stadium.
Instead, he was the most elegant.
Don Newcombe, who died Tuesday, was a monument in a fedora, history with a sport coat, a legend bearing a pocket square.
Even when his memory was fading and his steps were slow, he would show up three hours before every Los Angeles Dodgers home game as if dressing for church. His pew was a seat behind home plate. His congregation was countless players, media and officials who would stop, sit and listen. His message was love.
"I remember Jackie calling me and Roy together at Roy's apartment after we first signed," he told me, referring to Jackie Robinson and Roy Campanella. "Jackie said that people were going to
