Merl Combs
Merrill Russell "Merl" Combs (December 11, 1919 – July 7, 1981) was an American professional baseball player, scout and coach. Combs' active career spanned ten seasons (1941; 1946–1954). He was a backup shortstop in Major League Baseball who played between 1947 and 1952 for the Boston Red Sox (1947; 1949–50), Washington Senators (1950) and Cleveland Indians (1951–52). Combs batted left-handed and threw right-handed; he stood 6 feet (1.8 m) tall and weighed 172 pounds (78 kg). He was born in Los Angeles, and attended the University of Southern California.
| Merl Combs | |||
|---|---|---|---|
_-_Texas_Rangers_-_1974.jpg.webp) Combs in 1974 as a coach for the Texas Rangers | |||
| Shortstop/Third baseman | |||
| Born: December 11, 1919 Los Angeles | |||
| Died: July 7, 1981 (aged 61) Riverside, California | |||
| |||
| MLB debut | |||
| September 12, 1947, for the Boston Red Sox | |||
| Last MLB appearance | |||
| September 28, 1952, for the Cleveland Indians | |||
| MLB statistics | |||
| Batting average | .202 | ||
| Home runs | 2 | ||
| Runs batted in | 25 | ||
| Teams | |||
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In a five-season MLB career, Combs was a .202 hitter (73-for-361) with two home runs and 25 RBI in 140 games played, including 45 runs, six doubles and one triple. Thereafter, he was a longtime scout for multiple Major League organizations, and spent one season, 1975, as a coach on the staff of the Texas Rangers.
Combs died of lung cancer in Riverside, California, at the age of 61.[1]