Collection of John Wesley Coombs materials

The Resource Collection of John Wesley Coombs materials

Label

Collection of John Wesley Coombs materials

Language

eng

Summary

The collection contains nine folders of correspondence relating to Coombs' professional career as athlete, author, and coach, including correspondence with Colby College administrative officials and from Coombs' associates, family members, and historians. The collection contains manuscripts and published writings by and about Coombs, including publisher's fliers and promotional materials, order forms, and book jackets. More than 50 photographs, both mounted and unmounted prints and negatives, comprise the image collection relating to Coombs' academic career at Colby and his later athletic and coaching career. Memorabilia in the collection consist of Coombs' Colby College academic materials including his 1906 diploma (the first B.S. degree awarded by the college), his laboratory class notebooks, graduation materials, academic honors, and alumni questionnaires. Additional memorabilia have been added to the collection by his grandnephew, Don Wentworth '50; a pair of vintage baseball cards were donated by Bill Alfond; and several game baseballs and other sports memorabilia were provided by the Office of the Baseball Coach. Rounding out the collection are three folders of clippings relating to Coomb's athletic career and his chances of induction in the National Baseball Hall of Fame

Biographical or historical data

John Wesley ("Colby Jack") Coombs (1882-1957) was a successful professional baseball player from 1906-1920. He played for several major league teams, including the Philadelphia Athletics, the Brooklyn Robins, and the Detroit Tigers. He later became an influential collegiate coach at Williams, Princeton, and especially Duke University where he coached from 1929-1952. Coombs was born in La Grand, Iowa and moved at age five to Freeport, Maine where he attended public schools and began his baseball career pitching for his high school team. He attended Coburn Classical Institute in Waterville and entered Colby College with the Class of 1906. He majored in Chemistry, was active in theater, pledged as a member of Delta Upsilon and participated in track, football and tennis as well as baseball. He was captain of basketball in 1904 and captain of baseball in 1905. Coombs was scouted by Connie Mack of the Philadelphia Athletics and was offered an annual contract of $2,400 which he accepted, foregoing his intended career as a chemistry teacher. Three weeks after graduation in 1906, Coombs pitched and won his first major league game. He set several major league pitching records, including winning a marathon 24-inning game his rookie year, hurling a record 13 shutouts in the 1910 season, and pitching three complete game victories in the 1910 World Series. He went on to compile a 158-110 lifetime mark, despite suffering setbacks to his arm due to overuse and a lengthy illness due to Typhus, diminishing his career statistics and chances for induction in the Baseball Hall of Fame. "Colby Jack," as he preferred to be known, was unusual in his era as a college graduate in professional sports. During his professional career he also toured on the vaudeville circuit and appeared in a short feature film on baseball. He also wrote the chapter on pitching in "How to Play Baseball by the Greatest Baseball Players" (1913). During his career as a coach he authored an authoritative instructional text, "Baseball: Individual Play and Team Strategy" (1938) which has been published in four editions. Coombs was honored by Colby with a master's degree in 1946 at his 40th reunion, and the baseball field on the Mayflower Hill campus was named after him in 1951. He settled in Palestine, Texas, but continued to spend summers in Maine at his farm in West Kennebunk. He died April 15, 1957, at age 74

Cataloging source

CBY

Language note

Collection materials are in English

Context

Context of Collection of John Wesley Coombs materials

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Context

Work of