Major League Baseball All-Star pitcher Joe Coleman of Boston, Massachusetts passed away at the age of 78 on Wednesday according to the Associated Press. Coleman played 15 seasons of Major League Baseball from 1965 to 1979, and was an All-Star with the Detroit Tigers in 1972.
Who did Coleman pitch for?
Coleman pitched for seven Major League Baseball franchises. He was first with the Washington Senators from 1965 to 1970. Coleman was then with the Detroit Tigers for six seasons from 1971 to 1976, the Chicago Cubs in 1976, the Oakland Athletics in 1977 and 1978, the Toronto Blue Jays in 1978, and the San Francisco Giants and Pittsburgh Pirates in 1979.
Coleman’s MLB career statistics
The right hander had a record of 142 wins and 135 losses with an earned run average of 3.70. During 484 games and 2569 1/3 innings pitched, he gave up 2416 hits, 1055 earned runs, 233 home runs and 1003 walks, to go along with 1728 strikeouts, 94 complete games, 18 shutouts, seven saves, and a WHIP (walks and hits per innings pitched) of 1.33.
1972 All-Star Statistics
Coleman had a record of 19 wins and 14 losses with an earned run average of 2.80. During 40 games and 280 innings pitched, he gave up 216 hits, 87 earned runs, 23 home runs, and 110 walks, to go along with 222 strikeouts, nine complete games, three shutouts, and a WHIP of 1.16.
Only Playoff Start
On October 10, 1972, the year Coleman was a Major League Baseball All-Star and representing the Tigers and the American League, he pitched in his only postseason game, and made the very best of his opportunity. Coleman pitched a complete game seven-hit shutout in game three of the American League Championship Series, a 3-0 Tigers win over the Oakland Athletics. Coleman had 14 strikeouts compared to three walks. He also had a base hit single and a walk in three plate appearances during a time when the American League still had the pitchers hit. This was in fact the last year pitchers hit in the American League, as the designated hitter rule came into effect in 1973. The Tigers lost the best out of five series three games to two.
Post-Playing Career
Coleman was involved in the organizations of the Seattle Mariners, California Angels, St. Louis Cardinals, Tampa Bay Rays, Detroit Tigers, and Florida Marlins from 1980 to 2014. Most of this time Coleman worked at the minor league level, but was the Angels’s bullpen coach and pitching coach, and the Cardinals’s pitching coach. While with the Cardinals, Coleman worked alongside Hall of Fame manager Joe Torre.
