Cecil Lysander Coombs (March 18, 1888 - November 25, 1975) was an American

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to c ...

who played for the

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and ...

in 1914. He went on to manage in the minor leagues following his playing career.

Playing career

Coombs began his professional career in 1907, playing for the Shelbyville Queen Citys of the Eastern Illinois League, where he returned the next season. In 1909, Coombs played for both the Pekin Celestials and

Decatur Commodores The Decatur Commodores were a professional minor league baseball team based in Decatur, Illinois that played for 64 seasons. The Commodores are the primary ancestor of today's Kane County Cougars. They played, with sporadic interruptions, from 1 ...

. In 112 games that year, he hit .240. He played for the Celestials,

Bloomington Bloomers The Bloomington Bloomers were a minor League baseball franchise based in Bloomington, Illinois that played between 1889 and 1939. They were affiliates of the St. Louis Cardinals (1935), Cleveland Indians (1938) and Chicago Cubs (1939). They play ...

and Danville Speakers in 1910, hitting .274 in 65 games. In 1911, he played for the Speakers, hitting .253 in 115 games. 1911 was the first year in his professional career in which he collected more than 100 hits. In 1912, Coombs split the season between the Speakers and

Peoria Distillers The Peoria Distillers were a minor league baseball team that existed on-and-off from 1894 to 1917. They played in the Western Association from 1894 to 1896; the Central League in 1900, 1904 and 1917; the Western League from 1902 to 1903; and the ...

, hitting only .220 in 96 games. His average improved to .308 in 1913, as he collected 139 hits in 122 games for the Adrian Champs. He had the best year of his career average-wise in 1914, collecting 182 hits in 129 games for the

Bay City Beavers The Bay City Beavers were a Southern Michigan League baseball team based in Bay City, Michigan Bay City is a city and county seat of Bay County in the U.S. state of Michigan, located near the base of the Saginaw Bay on Lake Huron. As of the 20 ...

, for a .355 batting average. He was called up to the major leagues, and on August 7 he made his debut. In seven big league games, he hit .174 in 23 at-bats. On August 12, he played his final big league game. Although his major league career was only that one

cup of coffee A "cup of coffee" is a North American sports idiom for a short time spent by a minor league player at the major league level. The idea behind the term is that the player was only in the big leagues long enough to have a cup of coffee before ...

, his professional career lasted for many more years. In 1915, he hit .268 in 138 games for the Birmingham Barons. He hit .264 in 96 games for them in 1916, and in 1917 he hit .255 in 155 games for them. Coombs split the 1918 season between four teams - the Barons, the

Mobile Bears The Mobile Bears were an American minor league baseball team based in Mobile, Alabama. The franchise was a member of the old Southern Association, a high-level circuit that folded after the 1961 season. Mobile joined the SA in 1908 as the ''Sea G ...

, the

Little Rock Travelers The Little Rock Travelers were an American minor league baseball team located in Little Rock, Arkansas, and members (1902–1910, 1915–1958, 1960–1961) of the Southern Association, which as a Class A, A1 or Double-A circuit was typically two ...

and the Toledo Iron Men. He hit .241 in 84 games that year. 1919 was spent with the

Houston Buffaloes The Houston Buffaloes, Houston Buffalos, or Buffs were an American minor league baseball team, and were the first minor league team to be affiliated with a Major League Baseball, Major League franchise, which was the St. Louis Cardinals. The clu ...

and Galveston Pirates, hitting .264 in 153 games. In 1920, he hit .252 in 149 games for the

Dallas Submarines The Dallas Submarines, based in Dallas, Texas, United States, were a minor league baseball team that played from 1917 to 1918 in the Texas League. They were managed by Ham Patterson Hamilton Patterson (October 13, 1877 – November 25, 1945) was a ...

. Coombs hit .293 with 30 home runs in 1921 with the

Fort Worth Panthers A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...

, shattering his former career high of nine, which he set in 1914. He again played with the Panthers in 1922, hitting .311 with 10 home runs. 1923 was his final season as a player, and he hit .290 in 127 games split between the Panthers and the

Wichita Falls Spudders The Wichita Falls Spudders were a minor league baseball team that formed in 1920 and played its last game in 1957. They were based in Wichita Falls, Texas. The first Spudders team ran from 1920–1932 and played in the Texas League as an affiliat ...

. Coombs played 15 years in the minor leagues, hitting .276 in 1,847 games. He had 1,808 hits.Baseball Reference Minors
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Managing career

Coombs was one of two managers for the Marshall Indians in 1925, the other being Johnnie Baggan. Similarly, he was one of two managers for the Alexandria Aces in 1934, the other being

Art Phelan Arthur Thomas Phelan (August 14, 1887 – December 27, 1964) was a professional baseball infielder An infielder is a baseball player stationed at one of four defensive "infield" positions on the baseball field. Standard arrangement of positio ...

. In 1938, he was one of three managers for the

Fort Worth Cats The Fort Worth Cats was a professional baseball team based in Fort Worth, Texas, in the United States. The Cats were a member of the South Division of the now disbanded United League Baseball, which was not affiliated with Major League Basebal ...

, the others being

Homer Peel Homer Hefner Peel (October 10, 1902 – April 8, 1997) was an American professional baseball player and manager during the first half of the 20th century. His career lasted for a quarter century (1923–42; 1946–50), including 21 years as an out ...

and

Jackie Reid ''Taggart'' is a Scottish detective fiction television programme created by Glenn Chandler, who wrote many of the episodes, and made by STV Studios for the ITV network. It originally ran as the miniseries "Killer" from 6 until 20 September 1 ...

. In 1940, he managed the

Hot Springs Bathers The Hot Springs Bathers were a Cotton States League baseball team based in Hot Springs, Arkansas, United States, that played from 1938 to 1941 and from 1947 to 1955. In 1938, they were affiliated with the Chicago Cubs. In 1939 and 1940, they were a ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Coombs, Cecil 1888 births 1975 deaths Chicago White Sox players Major League Baseball outfielders Baseball players from Illinois Minor league baseball managers Decatur Commodores players Danville Speakers players Bloomington Bloomers players Bay City Beavers players Birmingham Barons players Little Rock Travelers players Mobile Bears players Toledo Mud Hens players Galveston Pirates players Houston Buffaloes players Dallas Submarines players Fort Worth Panthers players Wichita Falls Spudders players Shelbyville Queen Citys players People from Shelby County, Illinois People from Christian County, Illinois