Joe Coleman, baseball prodigy and former Spokane Indians pitching coach, dies at 78

Joe Coleman, a one-time prodigy whose life in professional baseball included Spokane’s last three seasons of Pacific Coast League play, has died at the age of 78.

The son of a major-league pitcher and father of another, Coleman served as pitching coach for the Indians 1980-82. He died in his sleep, at home in Jamestown, Tennessee.

Coleman was the third player chosen, selected by the Washington Senators, when the major leagues held their first player draft in 1965. On Sept. 28, in his major-league debut, Coleman, 19, pitched a four-hit complete game as the Senators, who became the Texas Rangers, defeated Kansas City 6-1.

He joined the rotation two years later, and, in 1970, he was a key figure in a multiplayer trade that delivered two-time Cy Young Award winner Denny McLain to Washington and sent Coleman to Detroit. McLain spiraled into oblivion. Coleman became a star.

He went 20-9 and struck out 236 for the Tigers for 1971. He won 19 games with 222 strikeouts in 1971. In 1972, he was 23-15 with 202 strikeouts. At 26, he was an ace, but within two years, his fastball had lost its zip. By 1976, he was the mop-up man in the Chicago Cubs’ bullpen. He remained in the majors through 1979.

The Mariners hired Coleman to coach Spokane’s pitchers in 1980. In each of his three seasons, including for the Angels in 1982, he occasionally took his dead arm to the mound. Pitching an inning or two, he totaled 81 innings and a 4-2 record.

After Spokane, Coleman spent four decades filling various roles for several major-league organizations. He mostly served the Angels during the 1980s and ’90s, working as a bullpen coach, pitching coach, minor-league manager or instructor and as a scout. He was pitching coach for the St. Louis Cardinals from 1991-94.

His father, also Joe, pitched 10 seasons in the American League, primarily for the Philadelphia Athletics. His son, Casey, pitched for the Cubs and the Royals from 2010-14.