Casey Coleman, the rookie right-hander who will be the starting pitcher for the Cubs today against St. Louis at Wrigley Field, is the son of former Cardinals pitching coach Joe Coleman.
Joe Coleman was pitching coach for four seasons (1991-94) under manager Joe Torre in St. Louis.
A workhorse right-hander whose 15-year big-league career ended in 1979, Coleman eight times pitched 200 innings or more in a season. He compiled a 142-135 record for the Senators, Tigers, Cubs, Athletics, Blue Jays, Giants and Pirates. His father, also named Joe, pitched 10 years in the majors, posting a 52-76 record for the Athletics, Orioles and Tigers in a career that ended in 1955.
A third-generation major leaguer, Casey Coleman, 23, enters today’s start against St. Louis with a 2-2 record and 5.02 ERA.
His father Joe joined the Cardinals’ coaching staff in October 1990. Before becoming St. Louis manager, Torre had been a broadcaster for the Angels and that’s how he got to know Coleman. From 1988-90, Coleman was the Angels’ bullpen coach.
Here’s a look at Joe Coleman’s four seasons as Cardinals pitching coach:
YEAR….TEAM ERA….NOTABLE
1991……3.69…………..Closer Lee Smith recorded an NL-best 47 saves
1992……3.38…………..At 16-5, 2.16 ERA, Bob Tewksbury became an ace
1993…….4.09………….Rene Arocha went 11-8 with a 3.78 ERA as a rookie
1994…….5.15…………..Rick Sutcliffe ends career with 6-4 mark, 6.52 ERA
After the strike-shortened 1994 season, Walt Jocketty replaced Dal Maxvill as Cardinals general manager. Torre had a year remaining on his contract; Coleman did not. “We didn’t have as good a year as we would have liked,” Coleman told The Sporting News, “but we had what we thought were three pretty solid years.”
Torre replaced Coleman with Mark Riggins, who had been pitching coach at Class AAA Louisville, and he also brought in Hall of Famer Bob Gibson as an assistant.
Coleman, 63, still is coaching. He spent this season as pitching coach for the Class A Lakeland Flying Tigers of the Florida State League.
RetroSimba 
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