Clarence "Choo-Choo" Coleman (August 25, 1937 – August 15, 2016) was an American professional baseball catcher, who played Major League Baseball (MLB) for the

Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) National League East, East division. Since 2004, the team's home sta ...

and New York Mets.

Career

Clarence Coleman was born in

Orlando, Florida Orlando () is a city in the U.S. state of Florida and is the county seat of Orange County, Florida, Orange County. In Central Florida, it is the center of the Greater Orlando, Orlando metropolitan area, which had a population of 2,509,831, acco ...

on August 25, 1937. He signed as an undrafted free agent with the Washington Senators at age 18. He was released by the Senators and signed by the Los Angeles Dodgers, then taken by the

in the rule V draft. In 1961, he appeared in 34 games for the Phillies, getting hit by a pitch in his first Major League plate appearance. He batted only .128 for the Phillies that year in 47 at bats. The Phillies finished in last place that year, a spot soon to be taken by the expansion New York Mets. In the offseason the Mets selected Coleman in the expansion draft. He played parts of three seasons for the Mets, hitting .205 in 415 at bats. The authors of ''

The Great American Baseball Card Flipping, Trading and Bubble Gum Book ''The Great American Baseball Card Flipping, Trading and Bubble Gum Book'' is a book written by Brendan C. Boyd and Fred C. Harris about baseball cards, primarily ones issued during the authors' youth in 1950s, and the players on the cards. The b ...

'', Brendan C. Boyd & Fred C. Harris, Little Brown & Co, 1973, had this to say about Coleman on p. 37, next to a picture of his baseball card: "Choo-Choo Coleman was the quintessence of the early New York Mets. He was a 5'8", 160-pound catcher who never hit over .250 in the majors, had 9 career home runs, 30 career RBIs, and couldn't handle pitchers. Plus his name was Choo-Choo. What more could you ask for?" Casey Stengel once complimented Coleman's speed, saying that he'd never seen a catcher so fast at retrieving passed balls.

After baseball

Upon retirement, Coleman moved back to his home town of Orlando. After his first wife died, Coleman married into a family who owned a Chinese restaurant in Newport News, Virginia. For over two decades, Coleman helped run the business and occasionally worked as a cook. Coleman eventually retired to Bamberg, South Carolina where he lived in obscurity until 2012 when he was invited to the Mets 50th anniversary celebration in New York. During the event Coleman both confirmed and denied some of the stories told about him. During an interview, he also revealed that his friends gave him his nickname "Choo Choo" because as a child "I was fast." Coleman died on August 15, 2016 in Orangeburg, South Carolina after a battle with cancer.

References

External links

Choo-Choo Coleman
at Baseball Almanac
Choo-Choo Coleman
at Baseball Gauge
Choo-Choo Coleman
at Ultimate Mets Database *

New York Times Obituary {{DEFAULTSORT:Coleman, Choo Choo 1937 births 2016 deaths 20th-century African-American sportspeople 21st-century African-American people African-American baseball players Baseball players from Orlando, Florida Buffalo Bisons (minor league) players Deaths from cancer in South Carolina Jacksonville Suns players Macon Dodgers players Major League Baseball catchers Montreal Royals players New York Mets players Orlando Dodgers players Orlando Seratomas players Philadelphia Phillies players Spokane Indians players Syracuse Chiefs players Tidewater Tides players