Joseph Patrick Coleman (July 30, 1922 – April 9, 1997) was an American professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("Pitch (baseball), pitches") the Baseball (ball), baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of out (baseball), retiring a batter (baseball), batter, ...

who appeared in 223

games A game is a Structure, structured type of play (activity), play usually undertaken for entertainment or fun, and sometimes used as an Educational game, educational tool. Many games are also considered to be Work (human activity), work (such as p ...

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

(MLB) over ten seasons between 1942 and 1955 for the

Philadelphia Athletics The Philadelphia Athletics were a Major League Baseball team that played in Philadelphia from 1901 to 1954, when they moved to Kansas City, Missouri, and became the Kansas City Athletics. Following another move in 1967, they became the Oakland ...

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles (also known as the O's) 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) East Division. As one of the America ...

and

Detroit Tigers The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. One of the AL's eight chart ...

. He was the father of Joe Coleman, a major league pitcher for 15 seasons from 1965 to 1979 and a two-time 20-game winner, and the grandfather of

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 ...

, a pitcher with the

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Division. Th ...

and the

Kansas City Royals The Kansas City Royals are an American professional baseball team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Royals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. The team ...

between 2010 and 2014.

Career

A native of

Medford, Massachusetts Medford is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. At the time of the 2020 United States census, Medford's population was 59,659. It is home to Tufts University, which has its campus on both sides of the Medford and Somervill ...

, Coleman attended

Malden Catholic High School Malden Catholic High School is a private, Catholic secondary school located in Malden, Massachusetts. The school was founded by the Congregation of the Brothers of St. Francis Xavier, an international congregation of religious brothers. It is a ...

, where he was coached by Brother Gilbert Mathias, who had mentored

Babe Ruth George Herman "Babe" Ruth (February 6, 1895 – August 16, 1948) was an American professional Baseball in the United States, baseball player whose career in Major League Baseball (MLB) spanned 22 seasons, from 1914 through 1935. Nickna ...

as a youth in

Baltimore Baltimore is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the 30th-most populous U.S. city. The Baltimore metropolitan area is the 20th-large ...

. In 1940, Mathias introduced Coleman to Ruth, who was visiting the school. After watching Coleman pitch, Ruth took him aside and helped him throw a more effective

curveball In baseball and softball, the curveball is a type of pitch thrown with a characteristic grip and hand movement that imparts forward spin to the ball, causing it to dive as it approaches the plate. Varieties of curveball include the 12–6 curve ...

. Coleman missed the 1943–1945 seasons while serving in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

during World War II. Along with other notable major league baseball players including

Ted Williams Theodore Samuel Williams (August 30, 1918 – July 5, 2002) was an American professional baseball player and manager. He played his entire 19-year Major League Baseball (MLB) career, primarily as a left fielder, for the Boston Red Sox from 193 ...

and

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 in Major League Baseball (MLB). He was a shorts ...

, Coleman enlisted in the Navy's Aviation Cadet Training Program located on the

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC, UNC–Chapel Hill, or simply Carolina) is a public university, public research university in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States. Chartered in 1789, the university first began enrolli ...

campus. He finished 19th in voting for the 1954 American League MVP for having a 13–17 win–loss record, 33 games, 32 games started, 15 complete games, 4 shutouts, innings pitched, 184 hits allowed, 102 runs allowed, 86 earned runs allowed, 16 home runs allowed, 96 walks allowed, 103 strikeouts, 3 hit batsmen, 1 wild pitch, 912 batters faced, and a 3.50 ERA. In 10 seasons he had a 52–76 win–loss record, 223 games, 140 games started, 60 complete games, 11 shutouts, 55 games finished, 6 saves, 1134 innings pitched, 1172 hits allowed, 616 runs allowed, 552 earned runs allowed, 92 home runs allowed, 566 walks allowed, 444 strikeouts, 13 hit batsmen, 19 wild pitches, 4993 batters faced, 3 balks, and a 4.38 ERA.

Death

He died in

Fort Myers, Florida Fort Myers (or Ft. Myers) is a city in and the county seat of Lee County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 86,395; it was estimated to have grown to 95,949 in 2022, making it the List o ...

, at the age of 74, in 1997.

References

External links

Joe Coleman
at SABR (Baseball BioProject) * 1922 births 1997 deaths American expatriate baseball players in Canada American League All-Stars Baltimore Orioles players Buffalo Bisons (minor league) players Detroit Tigers players Major League Baseball pitchers Malden Catholic High School alumni Newport News Pilots players Ottawa A's players Philadelphia Athletics players Savannah Indians players Sportspeople from Medford, Massachusetts Baseball players from Middlesex County, Massachusetts Toronto Maple Leafs (International League) players United States Navy personnel of World War II Wilmington Blue Rocks (1940–1952) players 20th-century American sportsmen {{US-baseball-pitcher-1920s-stub

Career

Death

See also

References

External links