Jerry Coleman

Jerry Coleman
Jerry Coleman, August 2005
Second baseman
Born: September 14, 1924 (1924-09-14) (age 85) 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 New York Yankees (1949-1957) As Manager San Diego Padres (1980)
Career highlights and awards
All-Star selection (1950) 4x World Series champion (1949, 1950, 1951, 1956) 1950 Babe Ruth Award

JERRY COLEMAN
Born September 14, 1924 (1924-09-14) (age 85)
Nickname	The Colonel
Place of birth	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	Distinguished Flying Cross (2) 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 second baseman and, currently, an analyst and former play-by-play radio announcer for the San Diego Padres.

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 en route to finishing 3rd in rookie of the year balloting.

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.

Nicknamed "The Colonel", due to being promoted to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel,^[3] 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,^[4] and has been honored in recent years, including being inducted into the USMC Sports Hall of Fame,^[5] 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.^[6]

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.

Broadcasting career

In 1960, Coleman became a broadcaster for the CBS Radio Network and in 1963 began a seven-year run calling New York Yankees' games on WCBS Radio and WPIX-TV. 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 the CBS Radio Network 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)^[7].

Coleman is believed to be the oldest active play-by-play announcer in the Major Leagues. In February 2007, he signed a contract extension through the 2009 season. [3] Coleman would be 85 at the end of that contract. In the fall of 2007 Jerry was inducted to the 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. Coleman does, however, still work middle innings as a color analyst.

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

World War II portal

United States Marine Corps portal

References

External links

• Baseball Hall of Fame - Frick Award recipient
• Career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference
• Jerry Coleman discusses his career in the Marines and in baseball