David Lamar Coble (December 24, 1912 – October 16, 1971) was an American

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in baseball league, leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Mod ...

player and manager. A

catcher Catcher is a Baseball positions, position in baseball and softball. When a Batter (baseball), batter takes their at bat, turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the (home plate, home) Umpire (baseball), umpire, and recei ...

, Coble played one season in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

(MLB), appearing in 15 games with the 1939 Philadelphia Phillies. Listed at and , he batted and threw right-handed.

Biography

Coble was born in 1912 in

Monroe, North Carolina Monroe is a city in and the county seat of Union County, North Carolina, United States. The population increased from 32,797 in 2010 to 34,551 in 2020. It is within the rapidly growing Charlotte metropolitan area. Monroe has a council-manager f ...

, the son of John Bunyan and Caroline Virginia née Rudge Coble. He began his professional baseball career in 1936, playing 91 games for the Class D

Moultrie Packers The Moultrie Packers were a class D, and class A minor league baseball team, based in Moultrie, Georgia, founded by J.S. Dillard. History Moultrie teams played in the Dixie League from 1916 to 1917 and the Georgia–Florida League from 1935 t ...

and 17 games for the Class B

Columbia Senators The Columbia Senators was the first name of an American minor league baseball franchise representing Columbia, South Carolina, in the original South Atlantic League. Currently, Columbia is home of the Columbia Fireflies in the South Atlantic Leag ...

. Coble then spent 1937 and 1938 with the Class A1

Little Rock Travelers The Little Rock Travelers were an American minor league baseball team located in Little Rock, Arkansas, and members (1902–1910, 1915–1958, 1960–1961) of the Southern Association, which as a Class A, A1 or Double-A (baseball), Double-A circuit ...

, appearing in 153 total games during those two seasons. Coble's only major league appearances came in 1939, when he appeared in 15 games 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 ...

between May 1 and August 6. He had seven hits in 25

at bat In baseball, an at bat (AB) or time at bat is a batter's turn batting against a pitcher. An at bat is different from a plate appearance. A batter is credited with a plate appearance regardless of what happens during their turn at bat, but a batt ...

s for the Phillies, for a .280

batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average is ...

. Defensively, he had a .982

fielding percentage In baseball statistics, fielding percentage, also known as fielding average, is a measure that reflects the percentage of times a defensive player properly handles a batted or thrown ball. It is calculated by the sum of putouts and assists, div ...

. Coble also played in 12 games for the Double-A

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East division. As one of the American L ...

during 1939. Coble spent 1940 and 1941 with the Class B

Rocky Mount Red Sox ''Rocky'' is a 1976 American sports drama film directed by John G. Avildsen and written by and starring Sylvester Stallone. It is the first installment in the ''Rocky'' franchise and stars Talia Shire, Burt Young, Carl Weathers, and Burgess M ...

and Class C Greenville Buckshots, respectively. He did not play during the war years of 1942–1945, serving with the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

. Coble's final appearances as a player came during 1946, when he played in 25 games for the Class B

Gadsden Pilots The Gadsden Pilots were a Minor League Baseball team based in Gadsden, Alabama, that played in the Southeastern League The Southeastern League was the name of four separate baseball leagues in minor league baseball which operated in the Southea ...

. During his seven seasons as a player, Coble appeared in 510 minor league games, accruing a .236 batting average. Coble was a

player-manager A player-coach (also playing coach, captain-coach, or player-manager) is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. A player-coach may be a head coach or an assistant coach. They may make changes to the sq ...

during 1941 and 1946, and served as

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities o ...

for several minor league teams from 1947 through 1952, mainly at the Class D level. His longest tenure was with the Shelby Farmers of the

Western Carolina League The original Western Carolina League was a Class-D circuit in Minor League Baseball which was ideated and created by John Henry Moss. The league ran from 1948 to 1952, then combined with the North Carolina State League to form the Tar Heel Leag ...

, managing the team in 1948, 1951, and 1952. After his baseball career, Coble worked as a real estate salesman. He died in 1971 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 ...

, and was survived by two sisters and two brothers.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Coble, Dave 1912 births 1971 deaths Philadelphia Phillies players Baseball players from North Carolina Major League Baseball catchers Minor league baseball managers Moultrie Packers players Columbia Senators players Little Rock Travelers players Baltimore Orioles (International League) players Rocky Mount Red Sox players Greenville Buckshots players Gadsden Pilots players United States Army personnel of World War II Tifton Blue Sox players