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Gerald Francis Coleman
New York Yankees
Infield
Born: September 14, 1924, San Jose, CA
Signed: Signed by the New York Yankees as an amateur free agent before 1942 season
Major League Teams: New York Yankees 1949-57
As a Manager: San Diego Padres 1980
Died: January 5, 2014, La Jolla, CA (age 89)
Joe Coleman was an All-Star second baseman and World Champion with the Yankees, a highly decorated veteran of World War II and the Korean War, and a Hall of Fame baseball broadcaster whose career in the booth spanned over five decades. Not a bad run! In between stints in the military, Coleman played in nine seasons for the Yankees with his best season coming in 1950. He hit career highs with his .287 batting average, six home runs and 69 RBIs and his clutch hitting in the 1950 World Series against the Phillies earned him World Series MVP honors. Injuries forced Coleman from the game following the 1957 season, and his last action came in the 1957 World Series in which he batted .364 against the Braves.
Coleman's broadcasting career began in 1960. He was a member of the Yankees (1963-69) and Angels (1970-71) broadcast booths before joining the Padres in 1972. Coleman was the beloved radio voice for the Padres every year between 1972 and 2013, with the exception of the 1980 season when he left the booth to briefly manage the Padres for a year. The Padres finished in sixth place in the National League West under Coleman, with a 73-89 record. Coleman was inducted into the San Diego Padres Hall of Fame in 2001, and was the Ford C. Frick Award winner for broadcasting excellence in 2005.
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| August 1989 - Trip to Cooperstown |
August 13, 1989 in Bridgeton, NJ - Card #88
We went nuts at the Bridgeton Baseball Card Show in August 1989, buying 12 different cards for our 1956 Topps set, all at $1.50 a piece. That's an impressive haul for $18!
I have no other information on the location of this show, other than it was held in the nearby city of Bridgeton, New Jersey. What I do have however is the checklist I brought with us to the show. I believe this is the second full checklist we carried around, having retired the prior version I created in 1988 and posted with the William Harridge (#1) card.
Just looking at this checklist (shown here) brings back fond memories of finding the cards, deciding to make a purchase, negotiating a price and then finding a flat surface so that we could cross off the newest additions.
The Card / Yankees Team Set
Coleman returned to Topps sets with this card after a four-year absence, and that definitely looks to be Coleman turning the double play in the action photo. There's no telling who the runner, wearing #8, could be. The back of the card highlights his military service and his career year in 1950. While Ted Williams (#5) also served in World War II and the Korean War, Coleman was the only major league player to see combat in both wars.
1956 Season
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First Mainstream Card: 1949 Bowman #225
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (5): 1951-52, 1956-57, 1980
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 2011 Topps Lineage Autographs #RA-JC
60 - Coleman non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 1/3/25.
Sources:
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
SABR
The Trading Card Database
The Trading Card Database
Previous Card / Next Card
Set Order: #315 Milt Bolling - Boston Red Sox / #317 Al Aber - Detroit Tigers
Order Collected: #314 Hobie Landrith - Chicago Cubs / #322 Karl Olson - Washington Nationals
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