William Edward "Roscoe" Coughlin (March 15, 1868 – March 20, 1951) was an American professional baseball player who was a

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the Baseball (ball), baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of out (baseball), retiring a batter (baseball), batter, who attempts to e ...

for two seasons in the

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team ...

(NL). In he pitched for the

Chicago Colts The following is a franchise history of the Chicago Cubs of Major League Baseball, a charter member of the National League who started play in the National Association in 1870 as the Chicago White Stockings. The Chicago National League Ball C ...

and in he played for the

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divisio ...

. Prior to his

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL) ...

career, he began his

minor league Minor leagues are professional sports leagues which are not regarded as the premier leagues in those sports. Minor league teams tend to play in smaller, less elaborate venues, often competing in smaller cities/markets. This term is used in N ...

career in 1887, and continued afterward until 1897.

Career

Minor leagues

Coughlin was born on March 15, 1868, in

Walpole, Massachusetts Walpole is a town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. Walpole Town, as the Census refers to it, is located about south of downtown Boston and north of Providence, Rhode Island. The population of Walpole was 26,383 at the 2020 censu ...

, and at the age of 19, he began his minor league career in 1887 with the

Lynn, Massachusetts Lynn is the eighth-largest municipality in Massachusetts and the largest city in Essex County. Situated on the Atlantic Ocean, north of the Boston city line at Suffolk Downs, Lynn is part of Greater Boston's urban inner core. Settled by Eu ...

based Lynn Lions of the

New England League The New England League was a mid-level league in American minor league baseball that played intermittently in five of the six New England states (Vermont excepted) between 1886 and 1949. After 1901, it existed in the shadow of two Major League ...

(NEL). In 1888, he played for several minor league teams, including the

Chicago Maroons The Chicago Maroons are the intercollegiate sports teams of the University of Chicago. They are named after the color maroon. Team colors are maroon and gray, and the Phoenix is their mascot. They now compete in the NCAA Division III, mostly as ...

of the newly founded

Western Association The Western Association was the name of five different leagues formed in American minor league baseball during the 19th and 20th centuries. The oldest league, originally established as the Northwestern League in 1883, was refounded as the Wester ...

, which covered many of the same locations as the American Association. Later into the season, he moved to the west coast and played for the Oakland Greenhood & Morans, and the San Francisco Pioneers, both members of the California League (CL). He then completed the season with the

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city status in the United Kingdom, city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is admi ...

Lillies of the New England Interstate League (NEIL). In 1889, Coughlin returned to Oakland and the CL, with which he played the entire season with the Colonels, won 30 games.

Major leagues

Coughlin began the 1890 season in the CL, however for a different team, the San Francisco Haverlys. After registering 27 wins, he made his Major League Baseball debut on April 22 for the Chicago Colts of the NL, pitching them to a 13–3 victory over the

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

. In his short time with the Colts, he had a 4–6

win–loss record In sports, a winning percentage is the fraction of games or matches a team or individual has won. The statistic is commonly used in standings or rankings to compare teams or individuals. It is defined as wins divided by the total number of match ...

, with his last decision occurring on June 11, in a 7–1 victory over the

Cleveland Spiders The Cleveland Spiders were an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland, Ohio. The team competed at the major league level from 1887 to 1899, first for two seasons as a member of the now-defunct American Association (AA), followed ...

in the first game of a

doubleheader Doubleheader or double header may refer to: *Doubleheader (baseball), two baseball games played between the same two teams on the same day *Doubleheader (television), a broadcast of two games back-to-back *Double heading, using two railway locomoti ...

. He completed the season with the

Sacramento ) , image_map = Sacramento County California Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Sacramento Highlighted.svg , mapsize = 250x200px , map_caption = Location within Sacramento ...

Senators of the CL. He began the 1891 season with the

Syracuse Syracuse may refer to: Places Italy *Syracuse, Sicily, or spelled as ''Siracusa'' *Province of Syracuse United States * Syracuse, New York ** East Syracuse, New York ** North Syracuse, New York * Syracuse, Indiana *Syracuse, Kansas *Syracuse, M ...

Stars of the Eastern Association, playing from April 24 until August 28, until he joined the New York Giants of the NL. He pitched in eight games for the Giants, and finished the season with a 3–4 win–loss record. His final appearance was on October 2, and was the last of his major league experience. In 19 career

games pitched In baseball statistics, games pitched (denoted by Games G in tables of only pitching statistics) is the number of games in which a player appears as a pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the Baseball (ball), b ...

, he had a 7–10 win–loss record, and had a 4.10

earned run average In baseball statistics, earned run average (ERA) is the average of earned runs allowed by a pitcher per nine innings pitched (i.e. the traditional length of a game). It is determined by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the numb ...

in 156

innings pitched In baseball, innings pitched (IP) are the number of innings a pitcher has completed, measured by the number of batters and baserunners that are put out while the pitcher is on the pitching mound in a game. Three outs made is equal to one inning ...

Return to the minors

Coughlin played for several minor league teams, beginning the season with the Syracuse/Utica Stars, with which he played from April 25 to June 30, the

Binghamton Binghamton () is a city in the U.S. state of New York, and serves as the county seat of Broome County. Surrounded by rolling hills, it lies in the state's Southern Tier region near the Pennsylvania border, in a bowl-shaped valley at the confluenc ...

Bingos from July 20 to August 20, and the

Rochester Rochester may refer to: Places Australia * Rochester, Victoria Canada * Rochester, Alberta United Kingdom *Rochester, Kent ** City of Rochester-upon-Medway (1982–1998), district council area ** History of Rochester, Kent ** HM Prison ...

Flour Cities from August 21 to September 16, all of the Eastern League (EL) From 1893 until into the 1897 season, he continued in EL, playing for the Springfield Ponies/Maroons. Later in 1897, he switched over to the

Brockton, Massachusetts Brockton is a city in Plymouth County, Massachusetts, United States; the population is 105,643 as of the 2020 United States Census. Along with Plymouth, it is one of the two county seats of Plymouth County. It is the sixth-largest city in Massac ...

based

Brockton Shoemakers Brockton may refer to: Canada * Brockton (electoral district), Canada * Brockton, Ontario, Canada * Brockton Point, a point and attached peninsula in Vancouver * Brockton Point Lighthouse, in Stanley Park, Vancouver, British Columbia * Brockt ...

of the NEL, and pitched in five games and had a 1–3 win–loss record in 39 innings pitched. He completed the season with the

Wilkes-Barre Wilkes-Barre ( or ) is a city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Luzerne County. Located at the center of the Wyoming Valley in Northeastern Pennsylvania, it had a population of 44,328 in the 2020 census. It is the seco ...

Coal Barons of EL. There is no record of him playing professional baseball following the 1897 season. Coughlin was a veteran of the

Spanish–American War , partof = the Philippine Revolution, the decolonization of the Americas, and the Cuban War of Independence , image = Collage infobox for Spanish-American War.jpg , image_size = 300px , caption = (cl ...

, died at the age of 83 on March 20, 1951, while living in the Old Soldiers Home in

Chelsea, Massachusetts Chelsea is a city in Suffolk County, Massachusetts, United States, directly across the Mystic River from the city of Boston. As of the 2020 census, Chelsea had a population of 40,787. With a total area of just 2.46 square miles, Chelsea is the s ...

; he is interred at St. Patrick Cemetery in

Lowell, Massachusetts Lowell () is a city in Massachusetts, in the United States. Alongside Cambridge, Massachusetts, Cambridge, It is one of two traditional county seat, seats of Middlesex County, Massachusetts, Middlesex County. With an estimated population of 115,5 ...

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Coughlin, Roscoe 1868 births 1951 deaths Chicago Colts players New York Giants (NL) players Hartford Dark Blues (minor league) players Major League Baseball pitchers 19th-century baseball players Baseball players from Norfolk County, Massachusetts Lynn Lions players Albany Governors players San Francisco Pioneers players Chicago Maroons players Oakland Greenhood & Morans players Oakland Colonels players Evansville Hoosiers players Sacramento Senators players San Francisco Haverlys players Syracuse Stars (minor league baseball) players Utica Stars players Binghamton Bingos players Rochester Flour Cities players Springfield Ponies players Springfield Maroons players Brockton Shoemakers players Wilkes-Barre Barons (baseball) players People from Walpole, Massachusetts Sportspeople from Chelsea, Massachusetts Pawtucket Phenoms players