Baseball Career
Three weeks after graduating, he pitched in his first major league game for Philadelphia, which was a 7 hit shutout defeating the Washington Senators 3-0. he finished 1906 with 10-10 record and 2.50 ERA. The following year was not great as Coombs went 6-9, 3.12 ERA. In 1908 & 09 his record was only 19-16 despite his ERA being 2.00 and 2.32 those years.
His best season was 1910 which is still one of the best single pitching seasons in MLB history. Besides his record of 31–9, he led the American League in wins (31), games played (45), and shutouts (13), which is still the single season AL record. He won 18 of 19 starts that July and racked up 53 consecutive scoreless innings which was the major league record until Walter Johnson broke it 3 years later. Don Drysdale and Orel Hershiser have since broken the mark.
He also won three games in the 1910 World Series, in which the Athletics defeated the Chicago Cubs.
He made appearances in the 1911 and 1916 World Series. In 1919, he was the manager of the Philadelphia Phillies for one season before he returned to playing.
Read more about this topic: Jack Coombs
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