Choo-Choo Coleman
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Clarence "Choo-Choo" Coleman (August 25, 1937 – August 15, 2016) was an American professional baseball
catcher Catcher is a position in baseball and softball. When a batter takes their turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the (home) umpire, and receives the ball from the pitcher. In addition to this primary duty, the catc ...
, who played
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 ...
(MLB) for the
Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. The Phillies compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East Division. Since 2004, the team's home stadium has ...
and
New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National ...
.


Career

Clarence Coleman was born in
Orlando, Florida Orlando ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Orange County, Florida, United States. The city proper had a population of 307,573 at the 2020 census, making it the fourth-most populous city in Florida behind Jacksonville, Florida, Jacksonville ...
, on August 25, 1937. He signed as an undrafted free agent with the Washington Senators at age 18. He was released by the Senators and signed by the
Los Angeles Dodgers The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Div ...
, then taken by the
Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. The Phillies compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East Division. Since 2004, the team's home stadium has ...
in the rule V draft. In 1961, he appeared in 34 games for the Phillies, getting hit by a pitch in his first Major League plate appearance. He batted only .128 for the Phillies that year in 47 at bats. The Phillies finished in last place that year, a spot soon to be taken by the expansion
New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National ...
. In the offseason the Mets selected Coleman in the
expansion draft An expansion draft, in professional sports, occurs when a sports league decides to create one or more new expansion teams or sports franchising, franchises. This occurs mainly in Sports in North America, North American sports and closed leagues. O ...
. He played parts of three seasons for the Mets, hitting .205 in 415 at bats. The authors of ''
The Great American Baseball Card Flipping, Trading and Bubble Gum Book ''The Great American Baseball Card Flipping, Trading and Bubble Gum Book'' is a book written by Brendan C. Boyd and Fred C. Harris about baseball cards, primarily ones issued during the authors' youth in 1950s, and the players on the cards. The b ...
'', Brendan C. Boyd & Fred C. Harris, Little Brown & Co, 1973, had this to say about Coleman on p. 37, next to a picture of his baseball card: "Choo-Choo Coleman was the quintessence of the early New York Mets. He was a 5'8", 160-pound catcher who never hit over .250 in the majors, had 9 career home runs, 30 career RBIs, and couldn't handle pitchers. Plus his name was Choo-Choo. What more could you ask for?"
Casey Stengel Charles Dillon "Casey" Stengel (; July 30, 1890 – September 29, 1975) was an American Major League Baseball right fielder and Manager (baseball), manager, best known as the manager of the championship New York Yankees of the 1950s and later, t ...
once complimented Coleman's speed, saying that he'd never seen a catcher so fast at retrieving passed balls.


After baseball

Upon retirement, Coleman moved back to his home town of Orlando. After his first wife died, Coleman married into a family who owned a
Chinese restaurant A Chinese restaurant is a restaurant that serves Chinese cuisine. Most of them are in the Cantonese cuisine, Cantonese style, due to the history of the Overseas Chinese, Chinese diaspora, though other Chinese regional cuisine, regional cuisin ...
in
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,
Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...
. For over two decades, Coleman helped run the business and occasionally worked as a cook. Coleman eventually retired to
Bamberg, South Carolina Bamberg is a city in and the county seat of Bamberg County, South Carolina, United States. The population was 3,607 at the 2010 census. History Bamberg is named after early resident William Seaborn Bamberg. Members of the Bamberg family continu ...
, where he lived in obscurity until 2012 when he was invited to the Mets 50th anniversary celebration in New York. During the event Coleman both confirmed and denied some of the stories told about him. During an interview, he also revealed that his friends gave him his nickname "Choo Choo" because as a child "I was fast." Coleman died on August 15, 2016, in Orangeburg, South Carolina, from cancer.


References


External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Coleman, Choo Choo 1937 births 2016 deaths 20th-century African-American sportsmen 20th-century American sportsmen 21st-century African-American sportsmen 21st-century American sportsmen African-American baseball players Baseball players from Orlando, Florida Buffalo Bisons (minor league) players Deaths from cancer in South Carolina Jacksonville Suns players Macon Dodgers players Major League Baseball catchers Montreal Royals players New York Mets players Orlando Dodgers players Orlando Seratomas players Philadelphia Phillies players Spokane Indians players Syracuse Chiefs players Tidewater Tides players