Athletes - Bob Coleman

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	Athletes - Bob Coleman

Robert Hunter Coleman (September 26, 1890 - July 16, 1959) was an American catcher, coach and manager in Major League Baseball. He also was one of the most successful managers in the history of minor league baseball, his career extending (with interruptions caused by major league service) from 1919 through 1957.

A native of Huntingburg, Indiana, Coleman played just three seasons in the major leagues, with the Pittsburgh Pirates (1913-14) and the Cleveland Indians (1916). The righthanded-hitting catcher batted .241 in 116 total games.

In 1919, at age 28, he embarked on his managerial career with the Mobile Bears of the Class A Southern Association. By 1926 he was a coach for the Boston Red Sox, but the following season he returned to the minor leagues, and in 1928 he became manager of the Evansville club of the Class B Three-I League, where he would spend much of the rest of his baseball career. He managed Evansville for 20 seasons over four separate tours of duty (1928-31; 1938-42; 1946-49; 1951-57), and won eight pennants there, including his final season.

Coleman made it back to the majors as a coach with the Detroit Tigers in 1932, and the Boston Braves in 1943. That season, his boss, manager Casey Stengel, was hit by a taxicab as he tried to cross a Boston street and suffered a broken leg. Coleman stepped in for 46 games while Stengel recovered (the Braves winning 21). At season's end, Casey was fired and Coleman was named permanent manager of the Braves for 1944. But the wartime Braves were not contenders and after a sixth-place 1944 finish was followed by a sluggish start to 1945, Coleman was replaced by one of his coaches, Del Bissonette. His final record as a major league manager was 128-165 (.437).

He then returned to Evansville - a Braves farm club - and resumed his minor league career. In 35 seasons as a minor league skipper, Coleman's teams won 2,496 games and lost 2,103 - a winning percentage of .543.

He died in Boston at age 68 of cancer in 1959.

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