Joe Coleman obit

 

Joe Coleman, No. 3 pick in the first MLB draft who pitched for Senators and Tigers, dies at 78

He was not on the list.

Joe Coleman, a lanky right-hander who won 142 games in 15 major league seasons and was an All-Star in 1972 with Detroit, died Wednesday morning, his son said. He was 78.

Casey Coleman said his father died in his sleep in Jamestown, Tennessee.

The son and father of major leaguers, Coleman became the No. 3 pick in baseball’s inaugural amateur draft in 1965 when he was selected by the Washington Senators. His father, also named Joe — who pitched in the majors from 1942-55 — negotiated a club-record $75,000 signing bonus.

The 6-foot-3, 175-pound Coleman became the first player to reach the majors after being drafted when he debuted for the Senators on Sept. 28, 1965. He threw a four-hitter to beat the Kansas City Athletics 6-1.

After the 1970 season, Coleman was traded to Detroit in a deal that sent Denny McLain to Washington. He enjoyed his greatest individual success with the Tigers, going 88-73 with a 3.82 ERA from 1971-76.

In 1971, he went 20-9 with a 3.15 ERA after recovering from a skull fracture that hospitalized him for two weeks. He was an All-Star the following season and made his only postseason appearance, striking out a then-playoff-record 14 batters to shut out the Oakland Athletics in Game 3 of the five-game American League championship series. The Tigers lost the series 3-2 and Oakland went on to beat Cincinnati in the World Series.

Coleman’s strikeout record stood for 25 years. Baltimore’s Mike Mussina fanned 15 in the 1997 ALCS against Cleveland.

Coleman also pitched for the Chicago Cubs, Athletics, Toronto Blue Jays, San Francisco Giants and Pittsburgh Pirates. In his final season, he made 10 relief appearance for the 1979 Pirates, who went on to win the World Series.

For his career, he was 142-135 with a 3.70 ERA and 1,728 strikeouts in 484 appearances (340 starts).

After retiring as a player, Coleman worked as a pitching and bullpen coach for the California and Anaheim Angels, St. Louis Cardinals and Seattle Mariners along with several minor-league clubs.

“He was a good man with a really good heart,” Casey Coleman said. “Everywhere I went in professional baseball, I met pitchers he coached. Many gave him credit for making it to the big leagues.”

Casey Coleman pitched in 58 major league games for the Cubs and Kansas City from 2010-14.

Born in Boston, Joe Coleman graduated from Natick High. He attended Ted Williams’ baseball camps, where he learned how to throw a curveball and slider.

In addition to Casey, Coleman is survived by his wife, Donna, daughter, Kristen, and three grandchildren.

He also attended Ted Williams' baseball camp in Lakeville, Massachusetts, while attending high school. Williams reportedly taught Coleman how to throw a curve ball at his camp, and why it curved.

In June 1965, Coleman was drafted out of high school by the Washington Senators in the first round (third overall pick) of the 1965 Major League Baseball draft, baseball's first amateur draft. Coleman was represented in contract negotiations by his father, who reportedly secured a club record signing bonus of $75,000 for Coleman.

After a 12-game stint with the Burlington Senators in the Carolina League, Coleman made his Major League Baseball debut at age 18, less than four months after graduating from high school, on September 28, 1965, throwing a four-hitter against the Kansas City Athletics and pitched two complete game victories in the final week of the 1965 season. Coleman was thus the first-ever draft pick to play in the majors. He compiled a 2–0 record and a 1.00 ERA, and was the youngest player in the American League at the time of his big league debut. After the 1965 season concluded, Coleman and his father opened a store in Natick, Massachusetts known as Joe Coleman & Son Sporting Goods.

Coleman spent most of the 1966 season with the York White Roses in the Eastern League, compiling a 7–19 record in 32 games. In 1967, Coleman won a spot in the Senators' starting rotation, appeared in 28 games, and compiled an 8–9 record with a 4.63 ERA. He remained in the Senators' starting rotation for an additional three years, compiling records of 12–16 with a 3.27 ERA in 1968, 12–13 with a 3.27 ERA in 1969, and 8–12 with a 3.58 ERA in 1970.

Coleman served as a coach in various organizations, beginning with his service as pitching coach for the Spokane Indians. The Spokane club was an affiliate of the Seattle Mariners in 1980 and 1981, but became an affiliate of the California Angels in 1982. In 1983, the Spokane club disbanded, and the Angels gave Coleman a choice of taking over as pitching coach in Edmonton or becoming the manager of the Peoria Suns, the Angels' newly organized Single A affiliate. Coleman chose the managerial position in Peoria. Coleman joked about the foibles of his young players after arriving in Peoria:

"One game, my right fielder dropped a fly ball. The runner was on third by the time he gets to the ball, but he launches it and it lands in the left field corner at the foul pole. . . . Some crazy things have happened, but it's constant. I go to the ballpark every day and expect something crazy to happen that day."

Coleman continued to serve in the Angels' organization for several years after his stint in Peoria. In 1987, he was the organization's roving minor-league pitching instructor, and in 1988 he joined the Angels' major league staff as bullpen coach.

In 1991, Coleman left the Angels to become the pitching coach for the St. Louis Cardinals under manager Joe Torre. He served in that position through the 1994 season. In October 1994, the Cardinals opted not to renew Coleman's contract in a front office shakeup that also saw the arrival of a new general manager and the departure of Bucky Dent as the club's third-base coach.

In 1996, Coleman returned to the Angels' organization. He served initially as a scout and then took over as the club's pitching coach for the last two months of the 1996 season. He was named bullpen coach for the 1997 season. He continued to serve as the Angels' bullpen coach through the 2000 season. In 2001, Coleman was hired as the pitching coach for the Durham Bulls, the Triple A affiliate of the Tampa Bay Rays. In 2007, Coleman left Durham and became the pitching coach of the Lakeland Flying Tigers, the Class A affiliate of the Detroit Tigers. He remained in that position until September 2011. From 2012 onwards, Coleman was the pitching coach for the Jupiter Hammerheads, the Class A affiliate of the Florida Marlins. The 2014 season marked Coleman's 50th year working in professional baseball as a player, scout, coach, instructor or manager.

He died in Jamestown, Tennessee.

 

Teams

Washington Senators (1965–1970)

Detroit Tigers (1971–1976)

Chicago Cubs (1976)

Oakland Athletics (1977–1978)

Toronto Blue Jays (1978)

San Francisco Giants (1979)

Pittsburgh Pirates (1979)