Joe Coleman passes

[Glenn Codere]

Sad to read that ex-Tigers pitcher Joe Coleman has passed.

Although I can remember listening to Tigers games as far back as 1965 or so, it was 1970-1973 that I really started paying attention to games, visiting Tiger Stadium a lot, and appreciating the nuances of baseball. Joe Coleman was very much at his peak at that time, winning 62 games from 1971-73 after coming to Detroit as part of the famous Denny McLain deal. He was always kind of overshadowed by Lolich but between the two of them, the Tigers had quite a formidable one-two punch. 

I still have a vivid memory of watching the 1971 spring training game when Coleman got beaned by a comebacker off the bat of Ted Simmons. According to Wikipedia, he was on the DL for 21 days, and didn't make his first start until the team's 15th game of the season. 

When I played Little League ball, I wore #15 (Coleman's number) which gave me another connection with Joe.

Rest in peace, Joe!

Glenn

[Peter Welch]

When I first started watching baseball as a kid in 1975, Coleman had a 5.55 ERA on that terrible '75 Tigers' team.  He had a 4.86 ERA for the Tigers in '76.  I thought he was a lousy pitcher.  I didn't realize he was a decent pitcher with the Tigers and Washington prior to that.  He was only 29 in 1975.  He seemed much older than that.  He first appeared in the majors at age 18 in 1965.  He pitched in the majors until he was 32.  He bounced around the majors as mostly a long reliever/spot starter after leaving the Tigers in the middle of the 1976 season for the Cubs, who purchased his contract from the Tigers.

 

RIP, Joe!

Peter

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From: 'Glenn Codere' via Detroit Tigers e-mail list <detroit...@googlegroups.com>
Sent: Thursday, July 10, 2025 6:16 AM
To: Tigers List <detroit...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: Joe Coleman passes

 

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[Brad Smith]

Coleman was one of many pitchers who broke down early under an enormous work load—4 straight seasons of more than 280 IP from ‘71-‘74. In the early 70s a lot managers—and also GMs, fans, and ballplayers themselves—had an unrealistic notion of what a pitcher could do over several years. This was in large part due to the pitching dominant 60s. But the 1969 rules changes (smaller strike zone, lower mound, better visuals for hitters), the 1973 introduction of the DH in the AL, and the trend back toward smaller ballparks that began around 1970 changed that equation.

Coleman was a hard thrower with mixed control—loys of walks, HBPs, wild pitches, and home runs surrendered. But at his best Coleman was very good, winning 62 games from ‘71-‘73, striking out over 200 a year, leading the league once in shutouts, putting up good ERA+ and WAR numbers (a couple 5+ WAR seasons), and of course eating all those innings. He made one All-Star team. If memory serves, Coleman was also a very good defensive player at a position where that gets little attention.

There were quite a few of those guys—generally #2 starters on good teams, like Jerry Kooseman and Tom Bradley, and of course Coleman himself. The Tigers won 91 games in ‘71, a division title in ‘72, and were in the division race until September in ‘73, and Coleman was a key member of those competitive teams

R.I.P.

Brad Smith

Sent from my iPhone

On Jul 10, 2025, at 9:09 AM, Peter Welch <pw...@hotmail.com> wrote:



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