JACK COOMBS

John Wesley Coombs came out of Le Grand, Iowa, in 1882, a six-foot, 185-pound right-hander who could swing from either side and didn't mind working. They called him Colby Jack, and for a while in Philadelphia he was Connie Mack's kind of pitcher: no fuss, no frills, just the ball and the batter and the afternoon getting late.

He broke in with the Athletics in 1906, 10-10 with a 2.50 E.R.A. and 13 complete games, which tells you he arrived already willing to finish what he started. By 1909 he was 12-11, 2.32, six shutouts. Then came 1910, the year that made the nickname stick. Coombs went 31-9 with a 1.30 E.R.A. over 353 innings, 35 complete games, 13 shutouts, 224 strikeouts. That is not a season; that is a man carrying a club on his back and asking for the ball again. In 1911 he came back with 28-12, 336.2 innings, 185 strikeouts, because apparently once was not enough.

When the Athletics' run ended, he went to Brooklyn from 1915 to 1918, then made a brief stop in Detroit in 1920. He finished with 158 wins, 110 losses, a 2.78 E.R.A., 2,320 innings, 1,052 strikeouts, 187 complete games, 35 shutouts. He died in 1957. The numbers are old and plain, like the man from Iowa. But 1910 still stands there in the heat, not needing any help.