Robert Jackson Coulson (June 17, 1887 – September 11, 1953) was an American

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

and

Federal League The Federal League of Base Ball Clubs, known simply as the Federal League, was an American professional baseball league that played its first season as a minor league in 1913 and operated as a "third major league", in competition with the e ...

outfielder. He played ball in four seasons, which spanned 7 years. In the Majors, he played for the

Cincinnati Reds The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. The Reds compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Divisi ...

and

Brooklyn Superbas The Brooklyn Dodgers were a Major League Baseball team founded in 1883 as the Brooklyn Grays. In 1884, it became a member of the American Association as the Brooklyn Atlantics before joining the National League in 1890. They remained in Brookl ...

. In his one season in the Federal League, 1914, he played for the

Pittsburgh Rebels The Pittsburgh Rebels were a baseball club based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, from 1913 to 1915. The team was a member of the short-lived Federal League. The team was originally called the Pittsburgh Stogies after an earlier Pittsburgh team tha ...

. Coulson threw and batted right-handed, weighed 175 pounds, and was tall. He also attended

Penn State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsyl ...

. On August 4, 1908, at the age of 21, Coulson made his Major League debut with the Reds. In 18 at-bats in his rookie year, he batted .333 (which would end up being the highest batting average in his career). In 1911, Coulson had a career year. Although he hit only .234 and led the league in

strikeout In baseball or softball, a strikeout (or strike-out) occurs when a batter accumulates three strikes during a time at bat. It means the batter is out, unless the third strike is not caught by the catcher and the batter reaches first base safe ...

s with 78, he stole 32 bases and collected 7 triples. He also had career highs in every major category except home runs. In 1914, 3 years after his last game in the Majors, Coulson played 18 games for the Federal League's Rebels. He had a batting average of .203. Overall, Coulson had one career home run (in 1910), 43 stolen bases, and a .236 career

batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average is ...

. Statistically, according t
Baseball Reference
he is most similar to Karl Olson. Fielding, Coulson had a .961 career

fielding percentage In baseball statistics, fielding percentage, also known as fielding average, is a measure that reflects the percentage of times a baseball positions, defensive player properly handles a batted or thrown ball. It is calculated by the sum of putout ...

. Coulson played his final game on July 3, 1914. He died in

Washington, Pennsylvania Washington, also known as Little Washington to distinguish it from the District of Columbia, is a city in Washington County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. The population was 13,176 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 censu ...

, on September 11, 1953, and was laid to rest in Beallsville Cemetery in

Beallsville, Pennsylvania Beallsville is a borough (Pennsylvania), borough in Washington County, Pennsylvania, United States and part of the Pittsburgh metropolitan area since 1950. The population was 392 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. Much of the borough ...

References

Bob Coulson stats
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Baseball Almanac
{{DEFAULTSORT:Coulson, Bob 1887 births 1953 deaths Cincinnati Reds players Brooklyn Superbas players Brooklyn Dodgers players Pittsburgh Rebels players 20th-century American sportsmen Major League Baseball outfielders Baseball players from Washington County, Pennsylvania Pennsylvania State University alumni Memphis Turtles players Altoona Rams players Kansas City Blues (baseball) players Newark Indians players Portland Beavers players Penn State Nittany Lions baseball players