Earle Combs

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Earle Combs

Outfielder

Born: May 14, 1899
Died: July 21, 1976 (aged 77)
Batted: Left	Threw: Right
MLB debut
April 16, 1924 for the New York Yankees
Final game
September 29, 1935 for the New York Yankees
Career statistics
Batting average	.325
Runs scored	1186
Runs batted in	632
Teams
New York Yankees (1924-1935)
Career highlights and awards
World Series champion: 1927, 1928, 1932 American League pennant: 1926 9 seasons with a .300+ batting average 8 consecutive seasons with 100+ runs scored
Member of the National
Baseball Hall of Fame
Elected	1970
Election Method	Veteran's Committee

Earle Bryan Combs (May 14, 1899 – July 21, 1976) was an American center fielder in professional baseball whose whole career was spent playing for the New York Yankees (1924‑1935). Combs played nearly his entire career batting leadoff in front of and playing in the same outfield as Babe Ruth.

Born in Pebworth, Kentucky, Combs rose through local leagues, among which was the Pine Mountain League in Kentucky, before entering the major leagues in 1924; he began a string of consistently productive seasons as a rookie in 1925, when he hit .342 and scored 117 runs while batting at the top of one of the most renowned offenses in major league history, which included Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig. Combs batted no lower than .299 and scored no fewer than 113 from then until the 1933 season. Combs' was nicknamed "The Kentucky Colonel".

Combs' career effectively ended during 1934 when he fractured his skull in a collision with the outfield fence. Combs retired after the 1935 season. Over his career, he hit .325 and was part of three World Series championships (in 1927, 1928 and 1932). He also set the Yankees team record for most Triples in a season (23 in 1927).

Combs was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1970. He died at age 77 in Richmond, Kentucky. Sabermetrician Bill James has listed Combs as one of ten Hall of Fame inductees who do not deserve the honor.^[1]

[edit] See also

[edit] References

^ Bill James Answers All Your Baseball Questions, an April 2008 entry from the Freakonomics blog

[edit] External links

Career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference
baseballhalloffame.org – Hall of Fame biography page
earlecombs.com - Official website
The Baseball Biography Project

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v • d • e New York Yankees 1927 World Series roster

Walter Beall \| Benny Bengough \| Pat Collins \| Earle Combs \| Joe Dugan \| Cedric Durst \| Mike Gazella \| Lou Gehrig \| Joe Giard \| Johnny Grabowski \| Waite Hoyt \| Mark Koenig \| Tony Lazzeri \| Wilcy Moore \| Ray Morehart \| Bob Meusel \| Ben Paschal \| Herb Pennock \| George Pipgras \| Dutch Ruether \| Babe Ruth \| Bob Shawkey \| Urban Shocker \| Myles Thomas \| Julie Wera Manager: Miller Huggins