Howard Boyd Coffie (November 6, 1937 – May 2, 2006) was an American

minor league baseball Minor League Baseball (MiLB) is a professional baseball organization below Major League Baseball (MLB), constituted of teams affiliated with MLB clubs. It was founded on September 5, 1901, in response to the growing dominance of the National Le ...

player, manager, college coach, scout and executive. He attended McMinn County High School and then

Rollins College Rollins College is a Liberal arts college, private liberal arts college in Winter Park, Florida. It was founded in November 1885 and has about 30 undergraduate majors and several master's programs. Florida's fourth oldest post-secondary institut ...

.News Channel 9 article
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Playing career

In 1959, Coffie won the Florida Intercollegiate Conference MVP Award. He was an NAIA All-American in 1958 and 1959 While at Rollins College, he was also an All-Conference basketball player.Article
/ref> He began his professional career in 1959, playing in the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Am ...

chain from 1959 to 1961. His first season was spent with the Kearney Yankees, hitting .286 with 11 home runs in 56 games. He played for the Greensboro Yankees in 1960, and in 92 games his average dropped to .216, and he hit only five home runs. His averaged dropped again in 1961 to .211, as he played in 39 games for the

Binghamton Triplets The Binghamton Triplets were a minor league baseball team based in Binghamton, New York between 1923 and 1963. The franchise played as members of the New York–Penn League (1923–1937), Eastern League (1938–1963), New York–Penn League ( ...

. He missed 1962 and 1963 to military service, but from 1964 to 1966 he played for the

Orlando Twins Orlando commonly refers to: * Orlando, Florida, a city in the United States Orlando may also refer to: People * Orlando (given name), a masculine name, includes a list of people with the name * Orlando (surname), includes a list of people wit ...

in the

Minnesota Twins The Minnesota Twins are an American professional baseball team based in Minneapolis. The Twins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. The team is named afte ...

farm system. In his first year back, he hit .228 in 66 games. His averaged dropped to .206 in 1965, but he raised it to .251 in his final season, 1966. Overall, Coffie batted .235 in 413 minor league games, over a span of six seasons.

Managerial career

Coffie managed three years in the minor leagues.

Year-by-year managerial record

He also managed the Columbus Red Stixx for part of 1997 while manager Jack Mull was away on medical leave.

Coaching career

Coffie was the head coach of the Rollins College baseball team from 1972 to 1991. He had a record of 586–419–6 at Rollins and was the

Sunshine State Conference The Sunshine State Conference is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division II level. All of its member institutions are located in the state of Florida, which is popularly k ...

coach of the year in 1983 and 1986. In 1982, he was named the Florida Coach of the Year He holds the record for most wins by a coach in Rollins College history. He also served as the head basketball coach at Rollins from 1962 to 1972, compiling a record of 94–145 He was honored with the Distinguished Achievement in Athletic Award by the Rollins College athletic department. Following his retirement, he was enshrined in the Sunshine State Conference, Florida Sports and North Carolina Halls of Fame.

Executive career

Coffie served as the farm director of the

Cleveland Indians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. Since , the team ...

from 1993 to 1994. He was the Director of Instruction in minor league operations for the Indians in 1995. In 1996, he served as the

Colorado Rockies The Colorado Rockies are an American professional baseball team based in Denver. The Rockies compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Division. Th ...

minor league field coordinator. He also served as the Rockies' roving catching instructor.

Death

Coffie died from cancer at the age of 68 in 2006. In his honor, a golf tournament known as the Boyd Coffie Golf Classic is played annually.DAC Orlando

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Coffie, Boyd 1937 births 2006 deaths Baseball catchers Minor league baseball managers Binghamton Triplets players Greensboro Yankees players Kearney Yankees players Orlando Twins players Rollins Tars baseball coaches Rollins Tars baseball players Rollins Tars men's basketball coaches People from Athens, Tennessee Baseball players from Tennessee Basketball coaches from Tennessee 20th-century American sportsmen