Clarence "Pops" Coleman (born April 4, 1884) was an American

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding t ...

catcher Catcher is a position in baseball and softball. When a batter takes their turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the ( home) umpire, and receives the ball from the pitcher. In addition to this primary duty, the ca ...

in the pre-

Negro leagues The Negro leagues were United States professional baseball leagues comprising teams of African Americans and, to a lesser extent, Latin Americans. The term may be used broadly to include professional black teams outside the leagues and it may be ...

. He played for the

All Nations All Nations was a Barnstorm (athletics), barnstorming professional baseball team that toured the Midwest from 1912 to 1918, and again in 1920 and 1921, and from 1923 to 1925. It derived its name from the fact that its team included players of seve ...

, Chicago Union Giants, and the

Indianapolis ABCs The Indianapolis ABCs were a Negro league baseball team that played both as an independent club and as a charter member of the first Negro National League (NNL). They claimed the western championship of black baseball in 1915 and 1916, and fini ...

and was about 36 years old and past his prime when the Negro National League was formed in 1920, so he did not make the cut against younger players. During the Pre-

years of the 19-teens, Coleman caught for pitching greats such as John Donaldson,

José Méndez José Colmenar del Valle Méndez (January 2, 1885 – October 31, 1928) was a Cuban right-handed pitcher and manager in baseball's Negro leagues. Born in Cárdenas, Matanzas, he died at age 43 in Havana. Known in Cuba as ''El Diamante Negro'' ...

Hurley McNair Hurley Allen McNair (October 28, 1888 - December 2, 1948) was a baseball player in the Negro leagues and the pre-Negro leagues. At the age of 21, he was pitching for the Minneapolis Keystones. He left the Keystones halfway through the 1911 season ...

, Jim Jeffries, and later in his career of the 1920s, even caught for

Satchel Paige Leroy Robert "Satchel" Paige (July 7, 1906 – June 8, 1982) was an American professional baseball pitcher who played in Negro league baseball and Major League Baseball (MLB). His career spanned five decades and culminated with his induction in ...

. Sources often show, because of his advanced age, Coleman was nicknamed "Pops." Other sources say his nickname strayed into "Captain Cola." In 1931, newspapers still show Clarence Coleman was working as a catcher for the travelling

Gilkerson's Union Giants Gilkerson's Union Giants were an independent Negro semi-pro baseball team headed by Robert Gilkerson in the 1920s and 1930s. The team was noted as having played in 1920 and 1930 to 1931. Notable players * Ted "Double Duty Radcliffe" * John Donalds ...

. However, the newspaper claims his age at the time to be 54, and other records show he was 47 years old at the time. In the 1940s, when Coleman was in his 50s, he continued to live in Chicago with his family, according to Census reports. During 1942, when Coleman registered for selective service and the World War II draft, he reported that he was working for the

Works Progress Administration The Works Progress Administration (WPA; renamed in 1939 as the Work Projects Administration) was an American New Deal agency that employed millions of jobseekers (mostly men who were not formally educated) to carry out public works projects, i ...

at the milk depot."United States, World War II Draft Registration Cards, 1942," index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/V1VP-44V : accessed 29 January 2013), Clarence Coleman, 1942; citing NARA microfilm publications M1939, M1936, and M1937; FHL microfilm 2139871
/ref> His draft records and census records show he was married to Luvenia Coleman. In some sources, his career is combined with that of Arthur Coleman.

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Coleman, Clarence All Nations players Cleveland Tate Stars players Indianapolis ABCs players Leland Giants players 1884 births Year of death unknown Baseball players from Louisville, Kentucky