An American Journey
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''An American Journey: My Life on the Field, In the Air, and On the Air'' is a 2008 autobiography written by
Jerry Coleman Gerald Francis Coleman (September 14, 1924 – January 5, 2014) was an American Major League Baseball (MLB) second baseman for the New York Yankees and manager of the San Diego Padres for one year. Coleman was named the rookie of the year in 19 ...
and Richard Goldstein.Coleman, Jerry and Richard Goldstein (2008) ''An American Journey: My Life on the Field, In the Air, and On the Air''. Chicago: Triumph Books Coleman is a recipient of the
Ford C. Frick Award The Ford C. Frick Award is presented annually by the Baseball Hall of Fame in the United States to a broadcaster for "major contributions to baseball". It is named for Ford C. Frick, former commissioner of baseball. Prior to his career as an exe ...
at the
National Baseball Hall of Fame The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum is a history museum and hall of fame in Cooperstown, New York, operated by a private foundation. It serves as the central collection and gathering space for the history of baseball in the United St ...
and is a member of the United States Marine Corps Sports Hall of Fame located at
Marine Corps Base Quantico Marine Corps Base Quantico (commonly abbreviated MCB Quantico) is a United States Marine Corps installation located near Triangle, Virginia, covering nearly of southern Prince William County, Virginia, northern Stafford County, and southe ...
, in
Quantico, Virginia Quantico (; formerly Potomac) is a town in southeastern Prince William County, Virginia, United States. The population was 578 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. Quantico is approximately 35 miles southwest of Washington, D.C., bound ...
.


Summary

Jerry Coleman Gerald Francis Coleman (September 14, 1924 – January 5, 2014) was an American Major League Baseball (MLB) second baseman for the New York Yankees and manager of the San Diego Padres for one year. Coleman was named the rookie of the year in 19 ...
was a former professional
baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...
player, a retired Marine officer, and a long-time baseball announcer for the
San Diego Padres The San Diego Padres are an American professional baseball team based in San Diego. The Padres compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Division. ...
. Born in San Jose,
California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...
, Coleman played for 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 ...
during the 1940s and 1950s. During that time, he was also a Marine fighter pilot and saw combat action in both
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
and the
Korean War The Korean War (25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953) was an armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula fought between North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea; DPRK) and South Korea (Republic of Korea; ROK) and their allies. North Korea was s ...
, the only professional baseball player to do so. After his baseball career ended, Coleman worked at a number of different jobs, but eventually landed in sports broadcasting. The book focuses on four major parts of Coleman's life. * Difficult childhood. Coleman was born in the midst of the
Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...
into a family with little money. His father was a violent alcoholic who made life difficult for the family. His mother eventually divorced her husband, and moved Coleman and his sister to an apartment. In a drunken rage, Coleman's father tracked her down and shot her four times. She survived, but unable to work, and divorced from her husband, she could not support the family and they were forced to subsist on public welfare. After several years, his father, who was never jailed for shooting his wife, returned to the family and remarried Coleman's mother, an arrangement that was more about economics and survival than love. * Career as a baseball player. Coleman's career as a player for the Yankees began in 1949 when he batted .275 and won the
Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American not-for-profit organization, not-for-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association, and produces news reports that are dist ...
Rookie of the Year award. Coleman played
second base In baseball and softball, second baseman, abbreviated 2B, is a fielding position in the infield, between second and first base. The second baseman often possesses quick hands and feet, needs the ability to get rid of the ball quickly, and must ...
,
shortstop Shortstop, abbreviated SS, is the baseball positions, baseball or softball fielding position between second base, second and third base, which is considered to be among the Defensive spectrum, most demanding defensive positions. Historically, the ...
, and
third base A third baseman, abbreviated 3B, is the player in baseball or softball whose responsibility is to defend the area nearest to third base — the third of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. In the scoring system us ...
during a nine-year career that included six
World Series The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB). It has been contested since between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winning team, determined through a best- ...
appearances, including the 1950 World Series where Coleman won the
World Series Most Valuable Player Award The Willie Mays World Series Most Valuable Player (MVP) Award is given to the Major League Baseball (MLB) player deemed to have the most impact on his team's performance in the World Series, which is the final round of the MLB postseason. The ...
. Coleman was also selected as an
All Star An all-star team is a group of people all having a high level of performance in their field. Originating in sports, it has since drifted into vernacular and has been borrowed heavily by the entertainment industry. Sports "All-star" as a sport ...
in 1950. His final game as a baseball player was on September 29, 1957. * War time experiences. Coleman was the only baseball player to see action in both World War II, where he flew 57 combat missions, and in the Korean War, where he flew 63 missions. After his tour of duty in Korea, Coleman returned to the Yankees but remained in the Marine reserves until 1964, eventually reaching the rank of lieutenant colonel. In the book, Coleman claimed that the years he spent in the Marines were the most important part of his life, eclipsing his career as a baseball player.Shanahan, Tom (May 20, 2008) "The Truth About Jerry Coleman" ''The Voice of San Diego''. Retrieved June 5, 201

* Broadcasting career. After retiring as a player, Coleman worked for the Yankees as a personnel director, but eventually left that job in 1960 and, at the advice of his friend
Howard Cosell Howard William Cosell (; né Cohen; March 25, 1918 – April 23, 1995) was an American sports journalist, broadcaster and author. Cosell became prominent and influential during his tenure with ABC Sports from 1953 until 1985. Cosell was widel ...
, began his career as broadcaster for
CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...
where he announced the
Major League Baseball Game of the Week Major most commonly refers to: * Major (rank), a military rank * Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits * People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames * Major and minor in musi ...
. After several years of network broadcasting, Coleman returned to the Yankees as a broadcaster in 1963 and remained with the team until 1970 when he returned to his native California and began work as a sports broadcaster for
KTLA KTLA (channel 5) is a television station in Los Angeles, California, United States, serving as the West Coast flagship station of The CW. It is the largest directly owned property of the network's majority owner, Nexstar Media Group, and is ...
TV in
Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...
. In 1973, he left that position and began broadcasting for the Padres, a position he was still holding as of 2013. In 2005, Coleman was enshrined in the baseball
Hall of Fame A hall, wall, or walk of fame is a list of individuals, achievements, or other entities, usually chosen by a group of electors, to mark their excellence or Wiktionary:fame, fame in their field. In some cases, these halls of fame consist of actu ...
when he was given the
Ford C. Frick Award The Ford C. Frick Award is presented annually by the Baseball Hall of Fame in the United States to a broadcaster for "major contributions to baseball". It is named for Ford C. Frick, former commissioner of baseball. Prior to his career as an exe ...
for excellence in broadcasting. Coleman had multiple offers over the years to write his autobiography but chose not to do so until he was encouraged by his wife to write his story for his children. He chose Goldstein as his collaborator because of Goldstein's experience writing about both sports and the military. On January 5, 2014, Coleman died at the age of 89 as a result of complications from head injuries sustained during a fall in December 2013.


Reviews

"Men of Coleman’s generation don’t like to be called heroes and don’t like to talk about what happened in the war. They know how fortunate they are to have made it home when so many friends didn’t. Goldstein starts out the book with Coleman describing “Jerry Coleman Day” at Yankee Stadium — a day to honor his return from Korea that he reluctantly went along with. In gut-wrenching detail, Coleman recounts waking up the morning of his “Day” to be met at the hotel where he was staying by the widow of Major Max Harper, the friend Coleman saw shot down in front of him. Harper’s widow didn’t want to believe her husband was dead. She wanted to hope he would be one of the prisoners of war who would be returned by the North Koreans. Coleman was the only person she would believe. He had to tell her he saw the plane go down in a crash that he couldn’t have survived. Then he had to take part in “Jerry Coleman Day” ceremonies before the game. Think about that story the next time you hear somebody downplaying Jerry Coleman’s life as a ballplayer, a war hero and as a Padres broadcaster."
"I've just read, "An American Journey," a most fascinating book filled with one surprise after another. It's a story of the eventual triumph of a man who was able to shed an unhappy, traumatic childhood, and with uncommon perseverance, became the man he is today - a successful, caring human being who should be an example for every struggling, young American who may've felt he wasn't dealt the right cards going into the world."
"Political columnist George Will, a baseball fanatic of the first order, pens the foreword to Padres announcer Jerry Coleman's memoir, An American Journey (Triumph Books). Writes Will of Coleman, who played on eight pennant-winning Yankees teams and was a combat hero in WWII and Korea: "No broadcaster has earned a more affectionate following than Jerry. When you read this memoir, you will not only know why, you will join his legion of followers."Blair, Tom (May 2008) "The Usual Suspects - Tom Blair's "I" on San Diego" ''San Diego Magazine''. Retrieved June 1, 201


References

{{San Diego Padres 2008 non-fiction books Baseball books Sports autobiographies