July 28, 2007: Vol. 30, No. 29

Don Newcombe, the great pitcher during the Dodgers’ glory days had a piece of advice for the Cyclone hurler who caught his ceremonial first pitch before Sunday’s game.

“He asked me if I lifted weights,” said starter Edgar Ramirez, who was born 57 years after Newcombe.

“I told him that I did, and he said, ‘Don’t. You’ll only be building up muscles that you don’t need to pitch.’ He said I should run instead.”

And not a little. A lot.

“He told me he used to sprint from one foul line to center field and then walk to the other foul line,” Ramirez said. “Then he’d sprint back to center field and walk back to the original foul line. He said to do this for an hour-and-a-half — and if I was tired, to do it for another half-hour.”

Newcombe’s training regimen certainly worked for him, given that he often pitched complete games and at least once started both ends of a doubleheader.

Ramirez, whose Cuban-born father moved to New York and became a Mets fan, is eager to talk to his paternal grandfather about Newcombe’s advice.

“My grandfather, like my father, is a great baseball fan,” said Ramirez. “I can’t wait to talk to him about today.”

©2007 The Brooklyn Paper