N.C. State pitching legend Chris Combs passes away today:A “Power Pitcher”/”Power Hitter”, he’s gone at age 45 due to complications from ALS

Was just reading about Chris Combs this morning, and his battle with ALS/Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, and how he had been fighting, but he lost his battle this morning, and succumbed to the disease and died at age 45…Combs was a “Power Pitcher” and a “Power Hitter” for the N.C. State Wolfpack and he holds several State pitching and hitting records…

He had young children and he was a ‘mountain-of-a-man’, at 6’7. and he was a very personable guy, when you got to know him…

After his N.C. State baseball career was over, he was selected in the MLB Draft, but injuries curtailed his pro baseball career…

When his baseball career was over, he came back to N.C. State and worked with Bobby Purcell and the Wolfpack Club, in the fundraising department…

He was a “people person” and you did not have to know Chris Combs, to know he was loved and respected by everyone he came in contact with…Just a great person, to all who knew and loved him…

Chris Combs has been taken out by the same disease(ALS/Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis) that took out Jim “Catfish” Hunter…

Combs’ dad is Francis Combs, another former N.C. State baseball great, and Francis Combs has worked with the N.C. State football and basketball broadcasts for what seems like 50 years..If you ever listened to Wolfpack football or basketball broadcasts with Wally Ausley and Gary Dornberg, and then later with Gary Hahn, Johnny Evans and Tony Haynes, then you have heard of Francis Combs…And for everything that Francis Combs has been to N.C. State over the years, his son Chris Combs was just as big, and just as important…

He will be missed, and he was loved by all that knew him…

RIP:Chris Combs, gone at just age 45….

from Joe Giglio, with WRALSportsFan.com:www.wralsportsfan.com

Chris Combs, ALS fundraiser and NC State baseball legend, passes away

NC State’s baseball program retired Chris Combs’ jersey number in March.

That Combs was one of the best power hitters in school history was only a small part of the reason his No. 26 will never be worn again.

Combs’ inspirational and unrelenting fight against amyotrophic lateral sclerosis helped raise more than $4 million for research for the disease.

He also had an agreeable personality that made him uncommonly popular with, and beloved by, his teammates, coaches and later as a longtime associate director for the Wolfpack Club.

Five years into his ALS fight, Combs passed away early Thursday morning, according to his family. He was 45.

A giant of a man at 6-7, Combs had an unusual combination of easiness and selflessness.

“Everybody loved Chris,” NC State baseball coach Elliott Avent said. “The way he fought this disease – and never let it break his spirit – tells you all you need to know about who he was as a person.”

CLICK HERE to read the rest of this post, from Joe Giglio, at WRALSportsFan.com….

One thought on “N.C. State pitching legend Chris Combs passes away today:A “Power Pitcher”/”Power Hitter”, he’s gone at age 45 due to complications from ALS

  1. “From the time I was a small child, my life has revolved around NC State Athletics. From being a batboy to working at the Wolfpack Club, I have loved everything associated with this great university. One of the highlights of my life was my time as a student-athlete wearing the Wolfpack red and white,” Chris Combs said.

    “NC State has always been home.”

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