Kenneth Edward Holcombe (August 23, 1918 – March 15, 2010) 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), ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

with the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Amer ...

Cincinnati Reds The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division and were a charter member of ...

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 p ...

St. Louis Browns The St. Louis Browns were a Major League Baseball team that originated in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, as the Milwaukee Brewers. A charter member of the American League (AL), the Brewers moved to St. Louis, Missouri, after the 1901 season, where they ...

and

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight ...

between 1945 and 1953. Holcombe batted and threw right-handed. He was born in

Burnsville, North Carolina Burnsville is a town that serves as the county seat of Yancey County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 1,693 at the 2010 census. History The town was founded on March 6, 1834, from land conveyed by John "Yellow Jacket" Bailey, ...

Career

Holcombe entered the majors in 1945 with the

, playing for them one year before joining the

(1948),

(1950–52),

(1952) and

(1953). In his rookie season, he showed promise as a solid

reliever In baseball and softball, a relief pitcher or reliever is a pitcher who enters the game after the starting pitcher is removed because of fatigue, ineffectiveness, injury, or ejection, or for other strategic reasons, such as inclement weather d ...

for the Yankees, going 3–3 with 1.79

ERA An era is a span of time defined for the purposes of chronology or historiography, as in the regnal eras in the history of a given monarchy, a calendar era used for a given calendar, or the geological eras defined for the history of Earth. Compa ...

and 55⅓

innings An innings is one of the divisions of a cricket match during which one team takes its turn to bat. Innings also means the period in which an individual player bats (acts as either striker or nonstriker). Innings, in cricket, and rounders, is bot ...

in 23 appearances. But he developed a chronic

bursitis Bursitis is the inflammation of one or more bursae (fluid filled sacs) of synovial fluid in the body. They are lined with a synovial membrane that secretes a lubricating synovial fluid. There are more than 150 bursae in the human body. The bursa ...

that eventually ended his career. His most productive season came for the 1951 White Sox, when he won 11 games as a starter, including a 3.78 ERA and 12 complete games –all career-highs. In 12 games for the 1952 Browns, Holcombe was 0–2 with a 3.80 ERA. He wrapped up his major league time by going 1–0 with 1 save for the 1953 Red Sox. In a six-season career, Holcombe posted an 18–32 record with a 3.98 ERA in 99 appearances, including 48 starts, 18 complete games, two

shutout In team sports, a shutout ( US) or clean sheet ( UK) is a game in which one team prevents the other from scoring any points. While possible in most major sports, they are highly improbable in some sports, such as basketball. Shutouts are usuall ...

s, 32 games finished, two saves, and 375.0 innings of work.

References

Baseball LibraryBaseball ReferenceKen Holcombe's obituary
1918 births 2010 deaths Asheville Tourists players Baseball players from North Carolina Boston Red Sox players Chicago White Sox players Cincinnati Reds players Greensburg Green Sox players Hamilton Red Wings (baseball) players Kansas City Blues (baseball) players Louisville Colonels (minor league) players Major League Baseball pitchers Newark Bears (International League) players New York Yankees players Norfolk Tars players People from Burnsville, North Carolina Sacramento Solons players St. Louis Browns players San Francisco Seals (baseball) players Williamson Red Birds players {{US-baseball-pitcher-1910s-stub