Happy Birthday to the late and great Earle Combs. Over his twelve-year career, he played for the New York Yankees in Center Field. He’s a Hall of Famer; however, playing his entire career with Ruth and Gehrig overshadowed his career.

Career Statistics (1924-1935):

.325 BA, 1,866 HITS, 58 HR, 633 RBI, 1,186 RUNS, .397 OBP

During his playing career, Combs won nine World Series with the Yankees. He would be the Yankees’ leadoff hitter for his prime years, averaging over 600 At-Bats during his career. While Combs wasn’t known for being a slugger, he was a great contact hitter averaging 200 Hits a year and was a great baserunner. Combs led the league in Triples three times 23 in 1927, 21 in 1928, and 22 in 1930. Thanks to his excellent baserunning and having Ruth and Gehrig in the same lineup, he scored 100 or more Runs eight years in a row. In 1927, Combs put together an MVP-caliber season. (.356 BA, 231 HITS, 6 HR, 64 RBI, 137 RUNS, .414 OBP) Now no one was getting that award with Ruth and Gehrig’s season.

His career ended prematurely with injuries in July of 1934; playing in St. Louis, he crashed into the wall going after a fly ball. Unfortunately, he fractured his skull, broke his shoulder, and severely damaged his knee. Not only was his season over, but he’d also spend the next two months in the hospital; he tried coming back the following year, but the Yankees would have Joe DiMaggio waiting, and with his decline in production, Earle Combs would call it a career.

References:

1. Earle Combs Career Statistics via Baseball-Reference: https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/c/combsea01.shtml

2. Earle Combs via Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earle_Combs