By PATRICK GORDON - Philadelphia Baseball Review

It was a brisk October Sunday afternoon in 1910 at Chicago’s old West Side Park when Athletics pitcher Jack Coombs etched an indelible mark on Philadelphia’s baseball landscape. The right hander, who had already won Games 2 and 3 of the World Series behind a pair of complete games, was staked to a 3-1 series lead over the highly favored Cubs when he was given the ball again in Game 5. A win would not only give the Athletics their first World Series pennant, but also give Philadelphia its first major sports championship.

Coombs weaved through the Cubs lineup for eight innings, scattering eight hits.He walked four, struck out four and surrendered two earned runs.

With two outs in the ninth and Jimmy Archer on first base via a single, Johnny Kling who had been 1-for-12 in the Series for the Cubs, entered the contest as a pinch hitter for pitcher Mordecai Brown. Kling took a hack at a pitch high in the zone and hit a grounder to shortstop Jack Barry who scuttled to second base to record a force on Archer.

The final out precipitated a major celebration some 750-miles away as fans poured into the streets of Philadelphia to celebrate the city’s first World Series win with a 7-2 Athletics victory.

“A celebration, such as a dry Sunday town would allow, was immediately started and the down town streets were

thick with cheering fans all evening,” read a story in The Fort Worth Star-Telegram. “The places of cheer opened at

midnight and many of the more ardent fans waited and starter their celebration anew at this hour.”

The Athletics, a vital cog in the creation of the American League, spent their first 50 years of existence in Philadelphia,

claiming five World Series pennants between 1910 and 1931. The club left Philadelphia for Kansas City in 1954. Their

home at 21st and Lehigh, Shibe Park, was demolished in 1976. Only the most fervent baseball fans remain aware of the Athletics and their early successes.

The 1910 club was led by future Hall of Fame second baseman Eddie Collins, who hit 324, drove in 81 RBIs and stole

a league leading 81 bases, and Coombs, who finished 31-9 with a 1.30 ERA. The team led the American League in

ERA (1.79), strikeouts (789), total bases (1831), average (.266), hits (1373) and fielding percentage (.965). The club finished 57-19 at Shibe Park and cruised to a 102-48 record.

Most fans and writers discounted the Athletics chances against a more polished Cubs team that had won the National

League pennant by 13 games and reached the World Series in two of the previous four seasons, winning it in both 1907 and 1908. Coombs, however, proved to be the difference maker, tossing three complete games in seven days and limiting the Cubs to just 24 hits over 27 innings.

The Athletics won the first two games handily – 4-1 and 9-3respectively at Shibe Park. Chief Bender dominated the Cubs in Game 1, tossing a complete game while allowing just one run on three hits.He struck out eight. Home Run Baker finished the contest 3-for-4 with two RBIs via a pair of doubles. In Game 2, everyone in the Athletics lineup collected at least a hit as the club ravaged Brown for 13 hits and nine runs, seven earned, in just seven innings. Coombs battled some wildness, walking nine and surrendering eight hits, but the Cubs failed to take advantage. The Athletics finished the contest 6-for-17 with runners in scoring position.

The Series moved to Chicago for Games 3, 4 and 5 and the Athletics bats remained hot. Danny Murphy and Jack Barry each recorded three RBIs and Coombs struck out eight as the Athletics took Game 3, 12-5. The Cubs salvaged Game 4 after Jimmy Sheckard drove in Archer on a game-winning RBI single in the 10th inning off Bender to extend the Series. A day later, in Game 5, Collins collected three hits and drove in two runs and Murphy chipped in with a pair of hits to lead the offense and lift the Athletics to a Series win in five games.

The Athletics hit a stellar .433 (26-for-60) with runners in scoring position during the Series, while the Cubs hit just .255 (11-for-43). Overall, the Athletics hit .322 in the Series, while the Cubs hit .234.

“We were beaten four games out of five and I will let the figures talk for themselves,” said Cubs manager and first baseman Frank Chance, who himself thrived at the plate during the Series, hitting at a .353 clip. “If anyone wants to say Connie Mack has a better ball club than I have, I will let him say it and I won’t try for a come-back.”

The Athletics arrived back in Philadelphia via a charter train at the old Broad Street station the following afternoon and were greeted by hundreds of fans. According to a story from the Associated Press, more than 300 police were called to the station to tame crowds of fans that had congregated for a chance to welcome the players home. The police eventually erected barriers forbidding people that did not have a train ticket from entering the station, but fans went ahead and bought tickets to the closest station and threw them away, simply for a chance to gaze at Philadelphia’s first championship club.

“Beating their way through the crowd, the players and Connie Mack were loaded into autos and whirled away to the Bellevue-Stratforf for supper and a night at the theater,” according to a story in The Washington Herald.

The city held a parade for the Athletics on Nov. 5 that was attended by thousands. The club marched down Broad Street from Montgomery Avenue to Wolf Street.

“The sidewalks of Broad Street were jammed with enthusiastic crowds when a long procession of automobiles started from Montgomery Avenue at 8-o’clock amid a blaze ofred fire that heralded the beginning of the demonstration,” read a story in The Philadelphia Inquirer. “Everywhere along the route red fire burned and flags fluttered, white there was hardly a building that was not hidden by elaborate decorations.”

The Athletics went on to win three more championships over the next four seasons, but the success stopped there. From 1915 through 1922 the club finished last in the American League.

It wasn’t until 1929 that Connie Mack had the Athletics back in the World Series.

Coombs spent four more seasons with the Athletics before signing with the Brooklyn Robins as a free agent prior to the 1915 season. He was released following the 1918 season and came back to Philadelphia to manage the Phillies in 1919, however, he was fired after the club sputtered to an 18-44 start. He returned to playing and signed with Detroit in 1920, but pitched in just a pair of games.

Coombs eventually went on to coach at Duke University where he compiled a 382-171 mark from 1929-1951. In 1965 he became a charter inductee to the Collegiate Baseball Coaches Hall of Fame.

pgordon@philadelphiabaseballreview.com