Coleman, Gerald, LtCol

Retired, making public appearances.

Recently published autobiography, "An American Journey."

Jerry Coleman's baseball career was interrupted by service in the Marine Corps during two wars. His philosophy was, "When you're country calls, you go. That's it."

In 1949, Jerry Coleman became a member of the New York Yankees. He played second base, and was awarded Rookie of the Year with a batting average of .275, 2 home runs, and 42 runs batted in. The following season, he was an American League All-Star, and was the Most Valuable Player in the 1950 World Series, when the Yankees swept the Philadelphia Phillies in four games. He played in six World Series, winning four World Series with the New York Yankees. He was one of the best defensive second basemen of all time, having committed only 89 errors in 3,168 fielding opportunities, and turned 532 double plays. He played in 402 games before the 1952 season. He was called up for active duty in the Korean War. After finishing his combat tour in Korea, he rejoined the Yankees and played in 321 games. He retired from playing baseball in 1957, and has a .263 lifetime batting average with 16 home runs.

After retiring from baseball, Lt. Colonel Coleman began his distinguished career as a sports announcer with the New York Yankees (1963 - 1969), the California Angels (1970 - 1971), CBS Radio's Network Game of the Week (22 seasons), and he currently is the radio voice of the San Diego Padres baseball team (1972 - 1979, 1981 - present). He is famous for his phrase, "Oh doctor, you can hang a star on that baby!" In 1980, he left the radio booth to manage the San Diego Padres for one season, and returned back to the booth, continuing his long association with the Padres, which includes working with many charitable events. He was inducted into the Padres Hall of Fame in 2001. On February 22, 2005, he was named the winner of the Ford C. Frick Award for broadcasting excellence and will be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York.