Michael Donnell Coleman (born August 16, 1975) is an American former

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. He played as a backup

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to cat ...

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), ...

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 ...

(, ) and

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Amer ...

(). He batted and threw right-handed.

Early life

Coleman was a two-sport star at Stratford High School in

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the List of muni ...

, lettering in both baseball and football. He turned down a football scholarship to the

University of Alabama The University of Alabama (informally known as Alabama, UA, or Bama) is a Public university, public research university in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Established in 1820 and opened to students in 1831, the University of Alabama is the oldest and la ...

to play baseball professionally. Coleman has a Sports Training Academy in Nashville, Tennessee called M3 Baseball.

Professional career

Coleman was drafted by the

in the 18th round of the 1994 amateur draft. He first appearance for Boston came in September 1997, where he would go on to play eight games and post a .167

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 ...

with two

runs batted in A run batted in (RBI; plural RBIs ) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if the bat ...

and no

home runs In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run i ...

. He did not appear in 1998, but was again called up in 1999, where he played in only two games, amassing one hit in five

at bats 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 ...

. During the fall offseason in 2000, he was traded along with

Donnie Sadler Donnie Lamont Sadler (born June 17, 1975) is an American former professional baseball utility player. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1998–2007. Career An alumnus of Valley Mills High School in Valley Mills, Texas (where he was a ...

to 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 ...

for

Chris Stynes Christopher Desmond Stynes (born January 19, 1973) is a former Major League Baseball utility player.Pete Palmer; Gary Gillette; Stuart Shea. The ESPN Baseball Encyclopedia'. Sterling Publishing Company; 1 February 2006. . p. 680. Early life Chri ...

. He was traded yet again that offseason to the

in the deal that brought

Wily Mo Pena Wily or WILY could refer to: Computing and technology * Wily (text editor), a text editor for Unix computer systems * Wily Technology, American software company * Ubuntu 15.10, the version of Ubuntu released in October 2015 with code name Wily Were ...

to Cincinnati. In 2001, Coleman appeared in 12 games for New York, where he would hit two home runs. He posted seven

and a .211

during his time in New York, and was granted

free agency In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

following the 2001 season. Coleman never again appeared in the major leagues, and since the 2001 season, he has played in the

minor league Minor leagues are professional sports leagues which are not regarded as the premier leagues in those sports. Minor league teams tend to play in smaller, less elaborate venues, often competing in smaller cities/markets. This term is used in Nor ...

systems of the

Washington Nationals The Washington Nationals are an American professional baseball team based in Washington, D.C.. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. From 2005 to 2007, the team played in RFK Stadiu ...

and

Tampa Bay Rays The Tampa Bay Rays are an American professional baseball team based in St. Petersburg, Florida. The Rays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East division. Since its inception ...

. Following the 2006 season, Coleman was granted free agency and has yet to sign with another team.

External links

Retrosheet
{{DEFAULTSORT:Coleman, Michael Boston Red Sox players New York Yankees players Major League Baseball outfielders Baseball players from Nashville, Tennessee 1975 births Living people Newark Bears players Bridgeport Bluefish players Elmira Pioneers players African-American baseball players American expatriate baseball players in Mexico Broncos de Reynosa players Columbus Clippers players Estrellas Orientales players American expatriate baseball players in the Dominican Republic Gulf Coast Red Sox players Louisville Bats players Michigan Battle Cats players Montgomery Biscuits players Pawtucket Red Sox players Sarasota Red Sox players Trenton Thunder players Utica Blue Sox players 21st-century African-American sportspeople 20th-century African-American sportspeople