Telegraph file photo by TOM KING This is the original sketch of the mural that is on the wall by the entrance to Holman Stadium honoring Don Newcombe, who passed away on Tuesday at the age of 92.

One of the men who played a huge part in Holman Stadium being historic has died.

Indeed, a piece of Nashua sports history was lost on Tuesday when it was announced by the Los Angeles Dodgers that former Nashua Dodgers pitcher and Brooklyn Dodgers great Don Newcombe passed away due to an illness at the age of 92.

Newcombe and the late Nashua Dodger catcher Roy Campanella broke the U.S. baseball color barrier, playing in the first racially integrated team, the 1946 Nashua Dodgers. Newcombe played in Nashua during the 1946 and 1947 seasons before being promoted to the Dodgers’ farm team, the Montreal Royals of the Class AAA International League, in 1948.

His mark in Nashua is commemorated, along with that of Campanella, at Holman Stadium. His No. 24 is retired on the left field brick wall, along with Jackie Robinson’s and Campanella’s, done by the independent league Nashua Pride who played at Holman from 1998-2008. Also, one of the roads leading to the stadium is Don Newcombe Way, and a mural commemorating Newcombe (along with one for Campanella) is on the stadium wall at the entrance, an idea that materialized a couple of years ago because of the efforts of the former Nashua Silver Knights assistant general manager Cheryl Lindner. The Silver Knights of the Futures Collegiate Baseball League are Holman’s current tenants.

Newcombe returned to Holman Stadium on April 15, 1997, as part of a local and national commemoration of the 50th anniversary of Robinson, who first played in the Dodgers system in Montreal, breaking the Major League color barrier with the Dodgers in 1947.

Newcombe once spoke on national TV from the former Daniel Webster College, an institution which helped organize his return. He later appeared at a Daniel Webster game that afternoon at the stadium. His visit was orchestrated by both the college and former The Telegraph assistant sports editor Steve Daly, who wrote a book on the Nashua Dodgers entitled “Dem Little Bums.”

The Holman Stadium community reacted to Newcombe’s passing on Tuesday.

“It’s sad to see one of the icons who helped integrate baseball in the U.S. through Nashua pass away,” Nashua Park-Recreation Superintendent Nick Caggiano said Tuesday.

The Silver Knights also issued a statement on Tuesday. The organization attempted to see if Newcombe could be part of last summer’s celebration of Holman’s 80th birthday, but Newcombe was too ill to travel.

“It is with great sadness that the Silver Knights comment on such a legend passing,” the team’s statement said. “His portrait hangs outside the front entrance of the stadium. His number 24 is retired on the outfield wall, and we drive down Newcombe Way every day.

“Don Newcombe stood for so much and together with Roy Campanella integrated the game right here in Nashua. Although sad, it is special that the passing of this great man in February coincides with Black History Month. What he was able to accomplish is so important to remember and appreciate for generations to come. His legacy will continue to live on with us.”

During his two seasons in Nashua, the 6-4, 220-pound hard-throwing Newcombe went 14-4 with a 2.21 earned run average in 155 innings in 1946, and 19-6 and a 2.91 ERA in 223 innings in 1947.

In the Major Leagues, Newcombe was a four-time All-Star and won 20 games three different times, his best season coming in 1956 when he went 27-7 and won the Cy Young Award and National League MVP.

But Newcombe, Campanella and Robinson changed the game of baseball forever. The Nashua pair reportedly kept in touch with Robinson, while he was in Montreal and then Brooklyn, while the duo were in Nashua.

“We came up with a strategy,” Newcombe would later say. “We knew the impact we were attempting would have. We had to endure. (Robinson’s) character, his backbone, his guts – those were the keys. Jackie was the leader under Mr. Rickey.”

It was a challenge, but Newcombe and Campanella always spoke highly of how they were treated by the residents of Nashua. Their opponents on the diamond were another story.

“I remember in the New England League, a catcher threw dirt in Roy’s face,” Newcombe recalled. “He said, ‘If you do that again, I’ll personally take your arm out of its socket.’ They challenged us. They did anything they could to break down the idea.”

Newcombe pitched in the Negro Leagues beginning in 1944, and was signed by Dodgers executive Branch Rickey. His Dodgers career ended in 1958 with a trade to the Cincinnati Reds. He later pitched for the Cleveland Indians and also in Japan, his career ending in 1962. In his 10-year Major League career, Newcombe went 149-90 with a 3.56 ERA.

He continued to work after his career for the Dodgers as the team’s director of Community Affairs and later as a special adviser.

Newcombe also acknowledged that alcoholism led to his career ending prematurely, and he worked for drug and alcohol prevention programs as well. One of the people he was able to help was former Dodgers infield great Maury Wills.

“What I have done after my baseball career and being able to help people with their lives and getting their lives back on track and they become human beings again, means more to me than all the things I did in baseball,” Newcombe is reported as saying.

(Material from the Associated Press was also used in this report).