All-Time Indians: Fritz Coumbe

As Babe Ruth was bringing an end to the dead ball era, the Indians continued their pitching dominance from the early teens into the the 1920’s. While most of this success came from the starters, including Hall of Famer Stan Coveleski along with Jim Bagby, Sr, these teams were so deep in pitching that they could afford a dedicated relief pitcher and the best of those was Fritz Coumbe. Coumbe came to the Indians in 1914 in a three for one deal from the Red Sox for the incredibly young and talented Vean Gregg. Gregg played just two full seasons in Boston and never returned to his league leading rookie form.

Coumbe joined the Naps when they were in Boston for a series on July 28th, after having pitched against Cleveland early in the day. Coumbe started his first two games as a Nap, but was quickly moved into the rotation after allowing seven runs (five unearned) in a complete game loss against the Yankees. Coumbe wouldn’t pitch in a winning effort again until the end of September and wouldn’t win a game for himself until his final appearance of the season, an 8.2 inning, two run relief effort. In the end, he pitched in 14 games and 55.1 innings with a 3.27 ERA.

In 1915, the top of the Indians rotation was set with Willie Mitchell and Guy Morton, but the back end was open for chances. Coumbe was still generally used in the bullpen in losing causes, but did manage to join the rotation on 12 occasions, usually when the team had a double header. Despite the limited opportunities as a starter, he still completed four games including three with one or less earned run allowed. While he was given a chance to join for good in mid-May, Coumbe showed that his flashes of excellence were just that, going less than four innings in three of four consecutive starts, allowing 15 runs in those three games.

As a reliever was where Coumbe really found his stride. Although he would go back and forth throughout his career, from the bullpen he recorded 24 wins and saves compared to just a 27-31 record as a starter. In addition, all his rate stats were better in relief, including a 2.36 ERA (compared to 3.14 as a starter), a 1.22 WHIP (1.37 as SP) and a 2.6 K/9 (2.2 as SP). While these numbers include his time with other teams, this easily places Coumbe among the top left handed relievers in Indians history.

For the 1916 season, Coveleski and Bagby were added to Morton in the rotation and available starts became even more scarce. Ed Klepfor was the primary recipient of these, but Coumbe still managed to grab 13 starts. Of these, seven were complete games (including a 10.2 inning loss) and he allowed more than three runs in an appearance just a single time. In relief, Coumbe did grab two comeback wins, but otherwise was used again only in losing causes as the strategy of the day didn’t allow a starting pitcher to come out of a game with the lead.

It was more of the same in 1917, although Coumbe would never again reach his 2.02 ERA mark set in 1916. He made ten starts that year, while he was generally used again as a reliever. For the second straight season he posted an impressive ERA at 2.14, better than all on the team with at least two innings pitched excluding Coveleski and Bagby. With his success, in September, he was finally allowed to pitch with the lead and earned saves in four of his final six relief appearances.

The following season was another great one for the Tribe as they used a total of just ten pitchers for the whole season, five of whom pitched over 100 innings. Coumbe was the fourth most used starter with 17 starts while maintaining his closers role with three saves and ten game finishes. Although his ERA rose to 3.06, he set a career high with 13 wins and 41 strike outs. This would be the final full season with the Indians for Coumbe as he pitched in just eight games in 1919. That year he started as the closer and fill in starter, but missed most of May, all of June and pitched for just a single out in two appearances for the rest of the year. Essentially ending his career with the Indians was a single appearance against Boston on July 18th. He came into the game in the ninth with the bases loaded and a three run lead. After a game winning grand slam by a young Babe Ruth gave the Red Sox the lead, Coumbe would pitch in just one more game.

The next January, Coumbe was traded into the American Association with the St. Paul Saints. After playing most of the season there, he was purchased by the Cincinnati Reds, where he played for two seasons. With the Reds, Coumbe was used as an outfielder as well as a reliever, playing in 28 games in 1921. After his release, Coumbe went to the Pacific Coast League and played for the San Francisco Seals and Salt Lake City Bees through 1925. When he was no longer able to perform at the AA level, he moved on to the single A Southern Association and International League through 1930, ending his career in 1931 at the B level New York-Pennsylvania League with the York White Roses at the age of 41. During this period, Coumbe attempted a conversion to the field and even batted .331 with 21 home runs in 1925 as a first baseman, but he never came close to reaching the Majors again.

At the age of 42, Coumbe finally retired and moved to California where he died in 1978 at the age of 88.