Jerry Coleman

Jerry Coleman
Jerry Coleman

Jerry Coleman, August 2005
Second baseman
Born: September 14, 1924 (1924-09-14) (age 87)
San Jose, California
Batted: Right Threw: Right 
MLB debut
April 20, 1949 for the New York Yankees
Last MLB appearance
September 29, 1957 for the New York Yankees
Career statistics
Batting average     .263
Hits     558
Runs batted in     217
Teams

As player

As manager

Career highlights and awards
JERRY COLEMAN
Nickname The Colonel
Born September 14, 1924 (1924-09-14) (age 87)
San Jose, California
Allegiance United States of America
Service/branch United States Marine Corps
*Marine Forces Reserve
Years of service 1942-1964[1]
Rank Lieutenant Colonel
Unit VMTB-341
VMFA-323
Battles/wars World War II
*Solomon Islands campaign
*Philippines Campaign (1944–45)
Korean War
Awards
Gold star
Gold star
Distinguished Flying Cross (2)
Silver star
Silver star
Gold star
Gold star
Gold star
Air Medal (13)
Other work New York Yankee Second Baseman
San Diego Padres Radio Announcer

Gerald Francis "Jerry" Coleman (born September 14, 1924) is a former Major League Baseball (MLB) second baseman for the New York Yankees. Currently, he is an analyst and former play-by-play radio announcer for the San Diego Padres. Coleman was named the rookie of the year in 1949 by Associated Press, and was an All-Star in 1950 and later that year was named the World Series most valuable player. His Yankees teams appeared in six World Series in his career, winning four times. Coleman is the only MLB player to have seen combat in two wars, having served in the Korean War and World War II. He later became a broadcaster, and he was honored in 2005 by the National Baseball Hall of Fame with the Ford C. Frick Award for his broadcasting contributions.

Contents

Playing career

Born in San Jose, California, Coleman graduated from Lowell High School,[2] then spent his entire playing career with the New York Yankees. He played 6 years in their minor league system before reaching the big club in 1949. Coleman hit .275 in his first year and led all second basemen in fielding percentage. He was the Associated Press' rookie of the year in 1949, and finishing third in balloting by Baseball Writers Association of America.[3]

Coleman avoided a sophomore jinx by earning a selection to the All-Star team in 1950. He then shined in the World Series with brilliant defense, earning him the BBWAA's Babe Ruth Award as the series' most valuable player.[3]

Nicknamed "The Colonel", due to being promoted to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel,[4] Coleman was also a Marine aviator and left baseball to serve in the Korean War, and postponing his entry into professional baseball in World War II. While a Marine Corps aviator he flew 120 combat missions, receiving numerous honors and medals including two Distinguished Flying Crosses,[5] and has been honored in recent years, including being inducted into the USMC Sports Hall of Fame,[6] for his call to duty—even more so following the events of September 11, 2001. He is the only Major League Baseball player to have seen combat in two wars.[7][8]

Coleman's career declined after injuring himself the following season, relegating him to a bench role. He was forced to retire after the 1957 season, but he left on a good note; hitting .364 in a World Series loss against the Milwaukee Braves. He appeared in the World Series six times in his career, winning four of them.[9]

Broadcasting career

In 1960, Coleman began a broadcasting career with CBS television, conducting pregame interviews on the network's Game of the Week broadcasts. His broadcasting career nearly ended that year; he was in the midst of an interview with Cookie Lavagetto when the national anthem began playing. Coleman kept the interview going through the anthem, prompting an avalanche of angry letters to CBS.[10]

In 1963 he began a seven-year run calling New York Yankees' games on WCBS radio and WPIX television. Coleman's WPIX call of ex-teammate Mickey Mantle's 500th career home run in 1967 was brief and from the heart:

Here's the payoff pitch... This is IT! There it goes! It's out of here!

After broadcasting for the California Angels for two years, in 1972 Coleman became lead radio announcer for the San Diego Padres, a position he has held every year since but 1980, when the Padres hired him to manage (predating a trend of broadcasters-turned-managers that started in the late 1990s). He also called national regular-season and postseason broadcasts for CBS Radio from the mid-1970s to the 1990s.

Coleman is also famous for his pet phrases "Oh Doctor!", "You can hang a star on that baby!", "And the beat goes on", and "The natives are getting restless".

During an interview in the height of the steroids scandal in 2005, Coleman stated "if I'm emperor, the first time 50 games, the second time 100 games and the third strike you're out", referring to how baseball should suspend players for being caught taking steroids. After the 2005 World Series, Major League Baseball put a similar policy in effect.

He is known as the "Master of the Malaprop" for making sometimes embarrassing mistakes on the microphone [2], but he is nonetheless popular. In 2005, he was given the Ford C. Frick Award of the National Baseball Hall of Fame for broadcasting excellence, and is one of four Frick award winners that also played in the Major Leagues (along with Joe Garagiola, Tony Kubek and Bob Uecker).[11]

In the fall of 2007 Jerry was inducted to the National Radio Hall of Fame as a Sports Broadcaster for his years as the play by play voice of the San Diego Padres.

Coleman no longer handles play-by-play duties, leaving Ted Leitner and Andy Masur to cover most of the radio broadcasting efforts for each Padres game. He does, however, still work middle innings as a color analyst. As of the 2010 season he reduced his broadcast schedule down to 20-30 home day games.[12] As of November 2010, Coleman is the oldest active play-by-play announcer.[13]

Coleman collaborated on his autobiography with longtime Village Voice writer Richard Goldstein; their book American Journey: My Life on the Field, in the Air, and on the Air was published in 2008.

See also

References

  1. ^ "JERRY COLEMAN". MARINE CORPS SPORTS HALL OF FAME. Marine Corps Community Services. March 13, 2007. http://www.usmc-mccs.org/sports/hof/2005-coleman.cfm. Retrieved July 15, 2009. 
  2. ^ "Famous Lowell Graduates". Lowell Alumni Association. http://www.lowellalumni.org/list_famous.shtml. Retrieved 15 July 2009. 
  3. ^ a b "Coleman given Ford C. Frick Award". ESPN.com. Associated Press. February 23, 2005. Archived from the original on October 27, 2011. http://www.webcitation.org/62lG1Hxxb. "Coleman played in six World Series and was The Associated Press' rookie of the year in 1949. He was also the MVP of the 1950 World Series." 
  4. ^ [1]
  5. ^ Grant, Kris (May 21, 2008). "Veterans Memorial to honor Jerry Coleman". La Jolla Light (MainStreet Media Group). Archived from the original on October 27, 2011. http://www.webcitation.org/62lJrE1k8. 
  6. ^ "2005 UNITED STATES MARINE CORPS SPORTS HALL OF FAME INDUCTION CEREMONY". Marine Corps Community Services. 29 July 2005. http://www.usmc-mccs.org/downloads/sports/Hall%20Luncheon%20Program%20-05.pdf. Retrieved 15 July 2009. 
  7. ^ "The Truth About Jerry Coleman". opinion. voiceofsandiego.org. May 20, 2008. http://www.voiceofsandiego.org/articles/2008/05/20/opinion/shanahan052008.txt. Retrieved 15 July 2009. 
  8. ^ "Museum pays tribute to Jerry Coleman". The San Diego Union-Tribune. October 27, 2011. Archived from the original on October 27, 2011. http://www.webcitation.org/62lEWCdEV. 
  9. ^ Anderson, Dave (October 28, 2009). "The Yankees’ World Series Ring Leaders". The New York Times. Archived from the original on October 27, 2011. http://www.webcitation.org/62lH0Icf0. 
  10. ^ Smith, Curt (2005). Voices of Summer. New York City: Carroll & Graf. ISBN 0786714468. 
  11. ^ National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum: Ford C. Frick Award
  12. ^ Maffei, John (2010-02-04). North County Times. http://www.nctimes.com/sports/baseball/professional/mlb/padres/article_c316bf35-1037-5e96-b3f2-34f2ad437f2c.html. Retrieved 2010-02-18. 
  13. ^ Bryan Hoch (11 November 2010). "Marines, not baseball, Coleman's proudest days". mlb.com news. Major League Baseball. http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20101110&content_id=16056852&vkey=news_mlb&c_id=mlb. Retrieved 18 July 2011. "Still enjoying his time in the game as baseball's oldest active play-by-play announcer with the Padres, Coleman is just grateful to have come home safely." 

External links

Preceded by
Joe Page
Babe Ruth Award
1950
Succeeded by
Phil Rizzuto
Preceded by
Roger Craig
San Diego Padres Managers
1980
Succeeded by
Frank Howard
Preceded by
Lon Simmons
Ford C. Frick Award
2005
Succeeded by
Gene Elston

Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

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