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