Kenneth Robert Coleman (April 22, 1925 – August 21, 2003) was an American radio and television
sportscaster for more than four decades (1947–1989).
Early life
Coleman was born in
Hartford, Connecticut
Hartford is the capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It was the seat of Hartford County until Connecticut disbanded county government in 1960. It is the core city in the Greater Hartford metropolitan area. Census estimates since the ...
, in 1925, the son of William (a salesman) and his wife Frances. The family subsequently moved to
Dorchester, Massachusetts
Dorchester (colloquially referred to as Dot) is a Boston neighborhood comprising more than in the City of Boston, Massachusetts, United States. Originally, Dorchester was a separate town, founded by Puritans who emigrated in 1630 from Dorchester ...
, and then to nearby
Quincy, where he was raised. Coleman graduated from
North Quincy High School
North Quincy High School (NQHS) is a public secondary school located in the North Quincy neighborhood of Quincy, Massachusetts, United States. The school serves grades 9 through 12, and has an enrollment of over 1,200 students. It is one of t ...
in 1943. He was a pitcher on the North Quincy High School baseball team, and subsequently played in the semi-pro Park League. But he had dreams of being a sports broadcaster from the time he was a boy, when he enjoyed listening to the games on radio.
After serving in the
U.S. 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, cl ...
, where he was a sergeant during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, Coleman took oratory courses for one year at
Curry College
Curry College is a private college in Milton, Massachusetts. It was founded as the School of Elocution and Expression by Anna Baright in 1879. In 1885, it was taken over and renamed by Samuel Silas Curry.
History
Curry College was founded in ...
, and then broke into broadcasting in
Rutland, Vermont Rutland, Vermont may refer to:
*Rutland (city), Vermont
* Rutland (town), Vermont
*Rutland County, Vermont
*West Rutland, Vermont
West Rutland is a town in Rutland County, Vermont, United States. The population was 2,214 at the 2020 census. The t ...
, in 1947, working for station
WSYB
WSYB (1380 kHz) is a commercial AM radio station in Rutland, Vermont. Established in 1930, the station is owned by Pamal Broadcasting and broadcasts a sports radio format as "Fox Sports 1380". Most of the programming comes from Fox Sports Radio ...
. He called the play-by-play of the Rutland Royals of the Vermont Northern League, a summer collegiate baseball circuit akin to the
Cape Cod League
The Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL or Cape League) is a collegiate summer baseball wooden bat league located on Cape Cod in the U.S. state of Massachusetts. One of the nation's premier collegiate summer leagues, the league boasts over one thousan ...
. He also was a newscaster and a deejay on the station. He was hired by station
WJDA
WJDA (1300 AM) is a radio station in Quincy, Massachusetts, serving the Boston area with a Reggaeton format. The station’s studios are in Chelsea.
History
The station began in 1947 as a local station for the South Shore region, owned by Jame ...
in Quincy, where he worked as a sports reporter until 1951; he then worked for a year at
WNEB in
Worcester
Worcester may refer to:
Places United Kingdom
* Worcester, England, a city and the county town of Worcestershire in England
** Worcester (UK Parliament constituency), an area represented by a Member of Parliament
* Worcester Park, London, Engla ...
. During this time, he was broadcasting
Boston University
Boston University (BU) is a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. The university is nonsectarian, but has a historical affiliation with the United Methodist Church. It was founded in 1839 by Methodists with its original campu ...
football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
during the
Harry Agganis
Aristotle George "Harry" Agganis (April 20, 1929 – June 27, 1955), nicknamed "The Golden Greek", was an American college football player and professional baseball player. After passing up a potential professional football career, he played in M ...
era.
Broadcasting career
Cleveland Indians and Browns
He received critical praise for his college football play-by-play, which led to his big break: in 1952, he got the opportunity to broadcast for the
NFL Cleveland Browns
The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. Named after original coach and co-founder Paul Brown, they compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference ( ...
(1952–1965), calling
play-by-play
In sports broadcasting, a sports commentator (also known as sports announcer or sportscaster) provides a real-time commentary of a game or event, usually during a live broadcast, traditionally delivered in the historical present tense. Radio was ...
of every
touchdown
A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the ball into the opponent's end zone. In Ameri ...
that
Hall of Fame
A hall, wall, or walk of fame is a list of individuals, achievements, or other entities, usually chosen by a group of electors, to mark their excellence or Wiktionary:fame, fame in their field. In some cases, these halls of fame consist of actu ...
running back
Jim Brown ever scored. He also began his
MLB
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), ...
broadcasting career, calling
Cleveland Indians
The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. Since , they have played at Progressive F ...
games on television for ten seasons (1954–1963). In his first year with the Indians, Coleman called their record-setting 111-win season and their
World Series
The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, contested since 1903 between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winner of the World ...
loss to the
New York Giants
The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. ...
.
Coleman broadcast
college football
College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States.
Unlike most ...
for various teams, including
Ohio State
The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best public ...
and
Harvard
Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...
, as well as BU. He was the play-by-play announcer for the 1968
Harvard-Yale football game, a game forever remembered for the
incredible Harvard comeback from a 16-point deficit to tie Yale at 29–29 in the game's last 42 seconds. He also called
NFL games for NBC in the early 1970s, and later in his career called
Connecticut
Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its cap ...
and
Fairfield basketball games for
Connecticut Public Television
Connecticut Public Television (CPTV) is the Public Broadcasting Service ( PBS) member network for the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is owned by Connecticut Public Broadcasting, a community-based non-profit organization that holds the licenses ...
.
Boston Red Sox
In 1966, Coleman was named the lead play-by-play announcer for the
Boston Red Sox
The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight ...
on both radio and television, succeeding
Curt Gowdy
Curtis Edward Gowdy (July 31, 1919 – February 20, 2006) was an American sportscaster. He called Boston Red Sox games on radio and TV for 15 years, and then covered many nationally televised sporting events, primarily for NBC Sports and ABC Sp ...
, who resigned after 15 years of calling Red Sox games to become the top play-by-play voice for
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...
's
Major League Baseball Game of the Week
The ''Major League Baseball Game of the Week'' (''GOTW'') is the de facto title for nationally televised coverage of regular season Major League Baseball games. ''The Game of the Week'' has traditionally aired on Saturday afternoons. When the na ...
. Coleman joined a broadcast team that also included
Ned Martin
Edwin Martin III (August 9, 1923 – July 23, 2002) was an American sportscaster, known primarily as a play-by-play announcer for Major League Baseball's Boston Red Sox from 1961 to 1992.
Broadcasting career
Martin was born in Wayne, Pennsylvani ...
and
color man
A color commentator or expert commentator is a sports commentator who assists the main (play-by-play) commentator, typically by filling in when play is not in progress. The phrase "colour commentator" is primarily used in Canadian English and the ...
Mel Parnell
Melvin Lloyd Parnell (June 13, 1922 – March 20, 2012) was a professional baseball pitcher who spent his entire Major League Baseball (MLB) career with the Boston Red Sox. Listed at and , he threw and batted left-handed.
Playing career
Parne ...
, and signed a three-year contract that paid him $40,000 per year. Coleman broadcast the
1967 World Series (which the Red Sox lost to the
St. Louis Cardinals
The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Since the 2006 season, the Cardinals ha ...
) for
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...
television, working alongside Gowdy, and radio.
Coleman was the "Voice of the Red Sox" on both
WHDH-AM 850 and
the original WHDH-TV for six seasons, through 1971. When the
FCC
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains jurisdictio ...
revoked WHDH's television license during the winter of 1971–1972, the Red Sox split their radio and TV announcing crews and signed a three-year contract with
WBZ-TV
WBZ-TV (channel 4) is a television station in Boston, Massachusetts, United States, airing programming from the CBS network. It is owned and operated by the network's CBS News and Stations division alongside independent station WSBK-TV (ch ...
. Coleman and color man
Johnny Pesky
John Michael Pesky (born John Michael Paveskovich; February 27, 1919 – August 13, 2012), nicknamed "The Needle" and "Mr. Red Sox", was an American professional baseball player, manager and coach. He was a shortstop and third baseman during a ...
worked exclusively on television through the 1974 season. In 1975, the Red Sox awarded their television rights to
WSBK-TV
WSBK-TV (channel 38) is an independent television station in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. It is owned by the CBS News and Stations group alongside CBS owned-and-operated station WBZ-TV (channel 4). Both stations share studios on So ...
and increased their telecast schedule from 65 to over 100 games, and the new flagship station opted for a new broadcasting team,
Dick Stockton and
Ken Harrelson
Kenneth Smith Harrelson (born September 4, 1941), nicknamed "The Hawk" due to his distinctive profile, is an American former professional baseball All-Star first baseman and outfielder, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1963 to 197 ...
. Coleman then returned to
Ohio
Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...
. From 1975 to 1978, he was the play-by-play man for
WLWT
WLWT (channel 5) is a television station in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States, affiliated with NBC and owned by Hearst Television. The station's studios are located on Young Street, and its transmitter is located on Chickasaw Street, both in the ...
and the
Cincinnati Reds
The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division and were a charter member of ...
' television network, calling regular-season games for the
Big Red Machine
The Big Red Machine is a nickname for the Cincinnati Reds baseball team that dominated the National League from 1970 to 1979 and is widely recognized as being among the best in baseball history. The team won six National League West Division ti ...
's back-to-back 1975–1976 World Series champions.
After the Red Sox' legendary radio combination of
Ned Martin
Edwin Martin III (August 9, 1923 – July 23, 2002) was an American sportscaster, known primarily as a play-by-play announcer for Major League Baseball's Boston Red Sox from 1961 to 1992.
Broadcasting career
Martin was born in Wayne, Pennsylvani ...
and
Jim Woods were fired for failing to follow the dictates of sponsors following the 1978 season, Coleman came back to Boston in 1979 and spent 11 years as the Red Sox' top radio voice. He broadcast the Red Sox'
1986 World Series loss to the
New York Mets
The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. They are one of two major league ...
and two Red Sox
ALCS (1986 and 1988). Coleman remained in the Red Sox booth until his retirement in 1989. He worked with #2 announcers
Rico Petrocelli
Americo Peter "Rico" Petrocelli (born June 27, 1943) is an American former baseball shortstop and third baseman who played his entire Major League Baseball (MLB) career with the Boston Red Sox. Listed at and , he both threw and batted right-hand ...
,
Jon Miller
Jon Miller (born October 11, 1951) is an American sportscaster, known primarily for his broadcasts of Major League Baseball. Since 1997 he has been employed as a play-by-play announcer for the San Francisco Giants. He was also a baseball annou ...
and
Joe Castiglione
Joseph John Castiglione (born March 2, 1947) is an American radio announcer for the Boston Red Sox baseball team,[Joe Castigl ...](_blank)
during this "second term" with the Red Sox.
In 1972, Coleman returned briefly to the NFL, rotating play-by-play duties with Stockton for
New England Patriots
The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East divisio ...
' preseason games on WBZ-TV with no color commentators.
Additionally, he wrote books on sportscasting, was one of the founding fathers of the Red Sox Booster Club and the BoSox Club, and was intimately involved with the
Jimmy Fund
The Jimmy Fund, established in Boston in 1948, is made up of community-based fundraising events and other programs that benefit Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. Since 1948, millions of people have given money to the Jimmy Fund to help save lives an ...
, which raises money for
cancer
Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal b ...
research.
Personal life and death
Coleman followed the routine of taking a swim in the Atlantic Ocean as often as he could through the late fall and into the earliest days of spring, until his death.
He was the father of the late Cleveland sports and newscaster
Casey Coleman
Kenneth R. "Casey" Coleman Jr. (March 24, 1951 – November 27, 2006) was a sportscaster and radio personality in the Cleveland area for nearly 30 years.
Early life
Coleman was born in Cleveland in 1951 to legendary play-by-play announcer K ...
, who died in 2006 from
pancreatic cancer
Pancreatic cancer arises when cell (biology), cells in the pancreas, a glandular organ behind the stomach, begin to multiply out of control and form a Neoplasm, mass. These cancerous cells have the malignant, ability to invade other parts of t ...
.
Coleman was inducted into the
Boston Red Sox Hall of Fame on May 18, 2000 at the age of 75. He died three years later, aged 78, in
Plymouth, Massachusetts
Plymouth (; historically known as Plimouth and Plimoth) is a town in Plymouth County, Massachusetts, United States. Located in Greater Boston, the town holds a place of great prominence in American history, folklore, and culture, and is known as ...
, from complications of bacterial meningitis.
[ "Ken Coleman: Longtime Sports Broadcaster." (Columbia, So. Carolina) ''The State'', August 23, 2003, p. 9. ]
References
External links
*
Ken R. Coleman (1966-74) earns a special place in Red Sox Nation*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Coleman, Ken
1925 births
2003 deaths
American radio sports announcers
American television sports announcers
Boston sportscasters
Boston Red Sox announcers
Cincinnati Reds announcers
Cleveland Browns announcers
Cleveland Indians announcers
College baseball announcers in the United States
College basketball announcers in the United States
College football announcers
Curry College alumni
Major League Baseball broadcasters
National Football League announcers
New England Patriots announcers
North Quincy High School alumni
Ohio State Buckeyes football announcers
People from Plymouth, Massachusetts
Sports in Cleveland
Sportspeople from Quincy, Massachusetts
Television anchors from Boston
Television anchors from Cleveland
United States Army personnel of World War II