Evening star., 1953-04-09
lombard Near Death
After SIashing Throat
In Oakland, Calf.
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slashed. A single-edge razor
blade was on the floor.
He resisted her efforts to help
him, and later resisted the
deputies.
lombard had been operating
a liquor store in nearby San
Leandro, Calf, since retiring
from baseball in 1948. In his
last active year, he played for
the Oakland Oaks, helping them
win their first Coast League
championship in 20 years.
In Majors 16 Years.
lombard, a 6-foot-2 power
hitter, played for the Cincinnati
Reds, Boston Braves and New
York Giants during a colorful
16-year major league career.
He won the National League
batting crown for the second
time in 1912 while playing with
the Boston Braves, hitting .331
in los games.
In 1888, when he was with the
Cincinnati Reds, Lombardi was
voted the leagues most valuable
player. He also won the batting
title that year with .342.
Victim of "Coma" in Series.
Despite his hitting, Lombardi,
familiarly known as "Schnozz,"
is perhaps best known for his
coma" behind the plate while
catching for Cincinnati in the
10th inning of the fourth and
last game of the 1889 World Sc
ries against the New York
Yankees.
This was the situation at Gin
cinnati that October 8, 1899:
The score was tied, A, with
the Yanks at bat in the top of
the 10th. With two on and one
out, Joe DiMaggio singled to
score one run. Ival Goodman,
Cincinnati rightf1elder, fumbled
the ball, but recovered in time
to throw to the plate in an effort
to get Charley Keller.
The ball beat Keller to the
plate, but King Kong" bumped
into Lombardi hard. The ball
slipped out of Lombardi's grasp
and Keller scored.
The ball rolled about five feet
to one side. Lombardi, appar-
emily stunned, made no effort to
get it. DiMaggio kept running
and slid home while Lombardi
lay on the ground.
Tied Two Records.
Lombardi equaled two major
league records with his hitting.
On May 8. 1887, he made six hits
in six consecutive times at bat,
and on May 8, 1885, he got four
doubles in one game. However,
his lack Of speed made him set
a major league mark by hitting
into the most double plays in one
season, 80, in 1888.
His overall major league bat
ting average was .3O7. In World |
Series competition, 1899 and
1910, he batted .235. In addi-
ton, he appeared in five ALL
Star games 1938, 1899, 1910, |
1912, 1943) and raped out five
hits in 13 times at bat for a 1886
average.
lombard began his profess
sional baseball career in 1927 |
with Oakland. He played only |
Is games with the Oaks before
being shifted to Ogden, where
he wound up with a 1893 mark. |
He spent his next three sea-
sons with the Oaks, pounding
out averages of .377, 1886 and
$40. He moved up to Brooklyn !
in 1881, and hit .297. The |
Dodgers traded him to Cincin-
natl before the 1882 season and |
for the next 10 years he was
a slugger for the Redlegs, fall
ing below the 300 mark only
three times-l934 when he hit |
.283, 1899 when he hit .287 and
1941 when he hit .264.
After he hit the low mark
in 1941, the Redlegs sold Lom-
bardi to the Boston Braves. The |
Braves kept him only one year |
before trading him to the New |
York Giants, but it was a good |
year the Braves got out of him, |
as he led the league. He spent |
four seasons with the Giants,
winding up his major league