“Colby” Jack Coombs The pitcher’s pitcher

by Charles Francis

That Duke University has one of the finest college baseball diamonds in the country comes as no surprise. Duke is one of the preeminent colleges in the country and is known for its academic programs as well as for its athletic teams. Even given Duke’s prestige, the baseball diamond is something special, however. It is not just a field dedicated to the pursuit of the national pastime, it is also a memorial. The field bears the name of one of Duke’s greatest coaches, Jack Coombs.

With all due respect to Duke University, it would be more fitting if Jack Coombs Field were “Colby” Jack Coombs Field. Jack Coombs was known as “Colby” Jack almost from the day he was signed out of Colby College to pitch for the man that many consider the greatest manager in the history of baseball, Connie Mack. Ironically, for all of Jack Coombs’ association with Maine, he wasn’t born here. Nevertheless, as one sportswriter put it, when Coombs went “to pitch for the Philadelphia Athletics... he was a typical downeaster, twang and all.” The fact that he had the Maine twang when he went to the Athletics came from his spending all but the first four years of his life here. Therefore, regardless of where he was born and where he lived after graduating from Colby, Coombs’ name will always be associated with the Waterville College where he began his march to athletic fame, and with the State of Maine.

Many baseball historians regard Jack Coombs as one of the greatest major league pitchers of all time. One reason for this is a 31-9 season followed by a 28-13 season. Another reason is that he still holds the American League Record of thirteen shutouts in one season. Then, too, there is the fact that he is the only pitcher the immortal Christy Matheson never beat. “Colby” Jack beat Matheson three times.

“Colby” Jack Coombs was born in LeGrand, Iowa on November 18, 1883. His full name was John Wesley Coombs. When he was four his parents moved to Kennebunk. Coombs attended local Kennebunk schools, where he excelled at any sport he tried. At Colby, where he studied chemistry, he was a back on the football team, and in the spring, when he wasn’t playing baseball, he was a sprinter on the track team. The six-foot-half-inch, one hundred and eighty-five-pounder was fleet of foot and had an even better arm.

It was the sportswriters who cemented Jack Coombs’ connection to Colby. His first game in the majors was a victory. The story of that victo- ry made the wires with a lead that read “the A’s rookie right-hander from Colby College, makes his Major League debut, blanking Washington 3-0…” Shortly after that he was “Colby” Jack. Then in September of that same year Coombs set a league record, pitching twenty-four straight innings against the Red Sox. Today that game is considered the third greatest baseball game ever. “Colby” Jack won it in Boston and did it by allowing just one run. The 4-1 victory took four hours and forty-seven minutes to play. Just how polished a pitcher Coombs was is shown by the fact that standing-room fans were allowed on the field in those days. They stood behind ropes in the outfield. The pressure they put on Coombs was intense. With that victory, “Colby” Jack became something more than just a college phenom.

There is no question that Jack Coombs was an intelligent individual. His degree in chemistry from Colby showed that. Late in life he showed his financial acumen by investing in downtown real estate in Palestine, Texas where he moved after retiring from coaching at Duke University. He died a wealthy man. Coombs also applied his mind to pitching. He studied the greatest pitchers of his era. They included Wild Bill Donovan and Cy Young. He would later say that he learned something from each of them.

“Colby” Jack’s best year was 1910 when he won thirty-one games. The wins included nineteen straight as well as three World Series victories. Altogether he won five World Series games. He also pitched fifty-three straight scoreless innings in one stretch.

“Colby” Jack’s life wasn’t all baseball victories as a pitcher and a coach. In 1912 he was stricken by typhoid fever. The illness somehow affected his spine, and it was believed that his career was over. Coombs, however, had (cont. on page 40)

(cont. from page 39) other ideas. He designed a contraption of his own making, and succeeded in stretching his spine. In 1913 he returned to baseball, this time with the Dodgers. It took him two years to regain some of his old form, however, and he never got his fastball back. Fortunately, “Colby” Jack had a remarkable curve. That and mental acuity allowed him to put down many a batter. In 1915 Coombs beat the Dodgers’ greatest rival, the Giants, three times. He also recorded a World Series victory over the Giants and Christy Matheson.

“Colby” Jack retired from the major leagues in 1920, but not from baseball. He went on to coach at Rice, Princeton, and Williams. Then, in 1929 he went to Duke. He remained there until retiring in 1951. At Duke his exemplary personal habits and character, as well as an overall record of 382-171, made him one of the most successful and honored coaches in the college’s history. That is why Duke named Jack Coombs Field after him.

John Wesley Coombs died at seventy-four of a heart attack on April 15, 1967 in Palestine, Texas. One of his interests in his last years was holding baseball clinics for local area youngsters.

Today “Colby” Jack Coombs stands as a role model for all that is good in sports. It is a legacy that stretches back to Maine and Colby College — the college that gave John Wesley Coombs his nickname.

by James Nalley