Vince Coleman

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This is for the baseball player. For the heroic train dispatcher, see Vince Coleman (train dispatcher).

Vincent Maurice Coleman (born September 22, 1961 in Jacksonville, Florida) is an American former Major League Baseball player, best known for his years with the St. Louis Cardinals. Primarily a left fielder, Coleman played from 1985 to 1997 and set a number of stolen base records. He was a switch-hitter and threw right-handed.

[edit] Career

Coleman began setting records as a college player. In 1981, he set the all-time single season stolen base record at Florida A&M with 65 steals in 69 attempts. He led NCAA Division I that year in both total steals and stolen base percentage. While at Florida A&M, Coleman was also a kicker and punter on the football team, where he followed in the footsteps of his Cousin, Greg Coleman who was also a punter at FAMU in the 1970s and went on to a 12-year career in the NFL. Coleman was named to the all-conference in 1980 and 1981 and is fondly remembered by FAMU football fans for kicking a game-winning 34-yard field goal in an unlikely 16-13 Rattler win over Division I-A University of Miami in 1979.

He chose to forego an NFL career when he was drafted in the 10th round of the 1982 MLB Draft by the St. Louis Cardinals. He continued his record breaking ways in the minor leagues, where he still holds the all-time professional mark for stolen bases in a single season with 145 for Macon of the South Atlantic League in 1983. He was also well known for his speed and ability to steal bases with the Louisville Redbirds of the American Association before being called up to the majors. He stole 110 bases in 1985. He stole over 100 bases in each of the following two seasons as well, making him the only player in the 20th Century to post three consecutive seasons of 100 or more steals. Before signing as a free agent with New York, Coleman led the National League in stolen bases in every season he played with the Cardinals (1985-1990), becoming one of just four players ever to lead his league in six consecutive seasons. The other players to accomplish this feat are Rickey Henderson, Luis Aparicio, and Maury Wills. Coleman is also one of only four people (with Henderson, Wills, and Lou Brock) to steal 100 bases in a season, one of only two people (with Henderson) to do it three times, and the only person to do it in three consecutive years.

Coleman compiled the best season of his major league career in 1987, when he posted a .289 batting average and a .363 on base percentage while totaling 180 hits, 109 stolen bases, and 121 runs scored. He played in the World Series that year, the only one he would appear in. He was with St. Louis in 1985 when they went to the World Series, but did not play due to a freak injury that he suffered when the automatic tarpaulin at Busch Stadium rolled over his leg during stretching exercises prior to a National League Championship Series game. The injury sidelined him for the rest of the postseason, and his Cardinals eventually lost a controversial World Series to Kansas City. ^[1]

After leaving St. Louis via free agency, Coleman's career took a quick downward spiral in the 1990s. He appalled baseball fans, the press and many African Americans when he declared "I don't know nothing about no Jackie Robinson" in 1991. Responding to Coleman, Rachel Robinson, Jackie Robinson's widow said, "I hope somehow he'll learn and be embarrassed by his own ignorance."

Coleman became infamous in 1993. Three months after injuring Dwight Gooden's arm by recklessly swinging a golf club in the clubhouse, Coleman was charged with endangerment when he threw a lit firecracker into a crowd of baseball fans waiting for autographs in the Dodger Stadium parking lot. The explosion injured three children, including two-year-old Amanda Santos. He was sentenced to 200 hours of community service for the incident, and was suspended by the Mets for the rest of season. At the end of the season, the Mets traded him, with cash to the Kansas City Royals for Kevin McReynolds.

He finished his active career in 1997 with the 14 at bats for the Detroit Tigers and a .071 batting average.

[edit] Accomplishments

• Sixth all time for career stolen bases (752)
• National League Rookie of the Year (1985)
• Most stolen bases in a season by a rookie, with 110 in 1985
• For single-season stolen bases in Major League history under modern rules, he places #3 (110 in 1985), #4 (109 in 1987) and #6 (107 in 1986).
• The last man to steal 100 bases in a season, when he did it for the third consecutive year in 1987.
• Two-time All-Star (1988-89)
• Led the Major Leagues in stolen bases four times (1985-87, 1990)
• Led the National League in stolen bases six consecutive years (1985-90)
• Holds an MLB record with 50 consecutive stolen bases without being caught stealing (September 18, 1988 through July 26, 1989)

[edit] See also

• List of MLB individual streaks
• List of Major League Baseball players with 500 stolen bases
• List of Major League Baseball leaders in career stolen bases
• List of Major League Baseball stolen base champions
• List of Major League Baseball players with 400 stolen bases
• Major League Baseball titles leaders

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference
• Baseball Almanac
• FAMU football article
• win over Miami