Thursday, April 23, 2015

no. 403 - joe coleman


Who is the man: Joe Coleman was on the brink of the greatest period of his career. In a pivotal decision, he was traded from the Senators to the Tigers on Oct. 9, 1970.

Can ya dig it: Coleman is wearing a Senators uniform and cap. The airbrushing makes the cap look very odd. Who has a red stripe going down the side of a blank cap?

Right on: That's horrible airbrushing. It looks like an ink blot up there. Blend it in, man!

You see that cat Coleman is a bad mother: After Coleman arrived with the Tigers, he became one of the best pitchers in the American League. He won 20 games twice and struck out 200 batters each year between 1971-73.

Shut your mouth: While in high school, Coleman attended a camp run by Ted Williams, who reportedly taught Coleman how to throw a curve ball. Years later, Williams was Coleman's manager with the Senators.

No one understands him but his woman: In 1978, Coleman was sold from the A's to the Blue Jays after A's owner Charlie Finley flipped out because Coleman gave up a home run (Finley was trying to get rid of Coleman anyway). A's manager Bobby Winkles resigned because Finley had just sold the A's best reliever.


(A word about the back): I'm trying to envision the state of frenzy that would occur today if a pitcher went 3-0 in his first three games with a complete game in each of them.

4 comments:

  1. Ted Williams baseball,camp was a couple of towns over from where I grew up. I never attende but our star pitcher in high school was a regular attendee. It's also where he learned his curveball.

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  2. Coleman's father (Joe Sr.) also pitched for the A's (1942-53) and Tigers (1955).

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  3. This Picture of Joe Reminds me of a Boy Scout Leader. Ha!

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  4. I never really appreciated what was wrong with these airbrushed caps when I was young. The airbrush portion struck me as looking plush. I think I assumed that those caps were fuzzy. I think I just wrote it off to some oddity of the American League teams.

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