By Bianca Sierra
FROM WIKIPEDIA COMMONS
Joseph Howard Coleman (February 3, 1947 – July 9, 2025) was an American baseball player. He played professional baseball as a pitcher from 1965 to 1982, including 15 seasons in Major League Baseball with the Washington Senators (1965–70), Detroit Tigers (1971–76), Chicago Cubs (1976), Oakland Athletics (1977–78), Toronto Blue Jays (1978), San Francisco Giants (1979) and Pittsburgh Pirates (1979). He compiled a 142–135 win–loss record and 3.70 earned run average (ERA) in 484 major league games.
Coleman averaged more than 20 wins per season from 1971 to 1973. He recorded 236 strikeouts in 1971, third best in the American League, was selected to the American League All-Star team in 1972, and recorded 23 wins in 1973, second highest in the American League.
Coleman was the son of former major league pitcher Joe Coleman and the father of former major league pitcher Casey Coleman. The trio are the first three-generation pitchers in MLB history.
Coleman was born in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1947. His father, Joe Coleman (Joseph Patrick Coleman), was a pitcher in Major League Baseball between 1942 and 1955. Coleman attended Natick High School in Natick, Massachusetts. In high school, Coleman was considered “an overpowering pitcher” who was “watched enviously by major league scouts.” He also attended Ted Williams‘ baseball camp in Lakeville, Massachusetts, while attending high school. Williams reportedly taught Coleman how to throw a curve ball at his camp, and why it curved.
In 15 major league seasons, Coleman appeared in 484 games (340 as a starter), pitched 2,569+1⁄3 innings and compiled a 142–135 win–loss record with 234 home runs and 1,003 walks allowed, 1,728 strikeouts, 90 hit batsmen, 118 wild pitches and a 3.70 career ERA.
In 1982, Coleman met his future wife, Donna, after moving to Fort Myers, Florida. Their son, Casey Coleman, was born in Fort Myers in 1987 and pitched in Major League Baseball for the Chicago Cubs from 2010 to 2012 and for the Kansas City Royals in 2014.
Coleman died on July 9, 2025, at his home in Jamestown, Tennessee at the age of 78.
