Pierce Devon "Percy" Coleman (October 10, 1876 – February 16, 1948) was an American professional
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 tea ...
pitcher who played parts of two
Major League seasons.
Early life
Coleman was born in
Mason, Ohio, the first of three children of
Irish-American parents, William P. Coleman, a farmer, and Florence A. (McVay) Coleman on Oct. 15, 1876. He attended
Mason High School and graduated in 1894.
He enlisted in the
U.S. Army July 18, 1898 as a private with the 6th Infantry Company G during the
Spanish–American War
, partof = the Philippine Revolution, the decolonization of the Americas, and the Cuban War of Independence
, image = Collage infobox for Spanish-American War.jpg
, image_size = 300px
, caption = (clock ...
. He was honorably discharged from
Fort Sam Houston, Texas in January 1899.
Professional baseball career
Coleman pitched in the
National League
The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team s ...
in 13 games in 1897 for the
St. Louis Browns
The St. Louis Browns were a Major League Baseball team that originated in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, as the Milwaukee Brewers. A charter member of the American League (AL), the Brewers moved to St. Louis, Missouri, after the 1901 season, where they ...
at age 20, and one game in 1898 for 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 ...
. He made his MLB debut on July 2, 1897, when he came on in relief in the sixth inning of a 13-1 Browns loss on the road vs. the
Cleveland Spiders
The Cleveland Spiders were an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland, Ohio. The team competed at the major league level from 1887 to 1899, first for two seasons as a member of the now-defunct American Association (AA), followed ...
, allowing 4 runs in 4 innings.
His final game was on October 1, 1898; the
Cincinnati Enquirer story reported "Coleman pitched fairly good ball" with 6 innings giving up just one run before tiring in the seventh in a 7-3 complete-game loss to St. Louis.
His overall MLB record was 1–3 with a 6.69
earned run average
In baseball statistics, earned run average (ERA) is the average of earned runs allowed by a pitcher per nine innings pitched (i.e. the traditional length of a game). It is determined by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the number ...
. In 37 official plate appearances, he had seven hits for a .226
batting average.
After his big-league career ended, he compiled a record of 22–18 in three seasons (1898–1900) in the minor leagues in
Grand Rapids, Michigan
Grand Rapids is a city and county seat of Kent County, Michigan, Kent County in the U.S. state of Michigan. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city had a population of 198,917 which ranks it as the List of municipalities in Mi ...
,
Savannah, Georgia
Savannah ( ) is the oldest city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia and is the county seat of Chatham County, Georgia, Chatham County. Established in 1733 on the Savannah River, the city of Savannah became the Kingdom of Great Br ...
,
Birmingham, Alabama
Birmingham ( ) is a city in the north central region of the U.S. state of Alabama. Birmingham is the seat of Jefferson County, Alabama's most populous county. As of the 2021 census estimates, Birmingham had a population of 197,575, down 1% fr ...
,
San Antonio, Texas
("Cradle of Freedom")
, image_map =
, mapsize = 220px
, map_caption = Interactive map of San Antonio
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = United States
, subdivision_type1= State
, subdivision_name1 = Texas
, subdivision_t ...
and
Portsmouth, Virginia
Portsmouth is an independent city in southeast Virginia and across the Elizabeth River from Norfolk. As of the 2020 census, the population was 97,915. It is part of the Hampton Roads metropolitan area.
The Norfolk Naval Shipyard and Naval M ...
.
By far his best season was 1899 at age 22 for the
San Antonio Bronchos The San Antonio Bronchos were a minor league baseball team based in San Antonio, Texas, that played in the South Texas League (1903–1906) and Texas League (1907–1919). The team was also known as the Mustangs (1903–04), Warriors (1905), and Ace ...
in the Class C
Texas League
The Texas League is a Minor League Baseball league which has operated in the South Central United States since 1902. It is classified as a Double-A league. Despite the league's name, only its five South Division teams are actually based in the ...
as he led the team in wins with a 13–8 record, starting 21 games and completing 20 with 183 innings pitched. He also played 45 games in the outfield and 5 at first base, batting .338 with 100 hits in 296 plate appearances. On July 10, 1899, Coleman "of the defunct San Antonio ball team accepted an offer from the Buffalo team of the Western league at $150 per month."
The following year, 1900, was his last in pro baseball as he went 6–4 with a 1.05 ERA for the Portsmouth Boers of the Class D Virginia League. He batted .211 in 57 at-bats.
Personal life
Coleman was married to Grace (Slayback) and they later lived in Cincinnati. They eventually moved to California as their daughter,
Majel Coleman
Majel Coleman (February 22, 1903 – July 27, 1980) was an American film actress and model from Mason, Ohio. Most of her 11 film credits are silent movie features.
Early life
Coleman was born in Mason, Ohio (just north of Cincinnati, Ohio) to P ...
, pursued an acting career. She appeared in 11 feature films between 1923 and 1934 and also was a model. A 1922 newspaper article stated that, on Majel's 19th birthday, she "received an instrument of destruction this week in the shape of a snappy speedster (car) from her father, P.D. Coleman, southwestern representative of a large eastern paint concern."
In 1910 the Colemans were residing in
Kokomo, Indiana
Kokomo ( ) is a city in Indiana and the county seat of Howard County, Indiana, United States. It is the principal city of the Kokomo, Indiana Metropolitan Statistical Area, which includes all of Howard County, the Kokomo-Peru CSA, which includ ...
and his occupation was "commercial salesman" for RedSeal Paint. His
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
draft registration stated that he was a traveling salesman for the Sherwin-Williams Co. based in Cincinnati.
Coleman and his wife and daughter resided in
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
as of 1930. Percy Coleman died at age 71 in 1948 in
Van Nuys, California and is buried in
Los Angeles National Cemetery. In 2007, he was posthumously inducted into the Mason Athletic Hall of Fame.
References
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Coleman, Percy
Major League Baseball pitchers
Baseball players from Ohio
St. Louis Browns (NL) players
1876 births
1948 deaths
19th-century baseball players
Birmingham Reds players
Grand Rapids Cabinet Makers players
Buffalo Bisons (minor league) players
San Antonio Bronchos players
Portsmouth Boers players
People from Mason, Ohio
Sportspeople from Warren County, Ohio
American military personnel of the Spanish–American War
United States Army soldiers
American people of Irish descent
Savannah (minor league baseball) players