RetroSimba

(Updated Dec. 28, 2018)

Vince Coleman was so fast he made it to the major leagues much sooner than the Cardinals expected.

When the 1985 season began, Coleman was with Louisville and both he and the Cardinals agreed he needed to spend more months in the minors before he was ready for the big leagues.

The plan changed in April when the Cardinals called up Coleman to fill in for a pair of injured outfielders, Willie McGee and Tito Landrum. Coleman was supposed to stay a couple of days, but his speed created headaches for opponents and opportunities for the Cardinals. When McGee and Landrum got healthy, Coleman remained as the Cardinals’ leadoff batter and left fielder.

Multiple talents

Coleman was raised in Jacksonville by his mother, Willie Pearl Coleman, a single parent who worked as a dietitian at a hospital. After graduating high school, he enrolled at Florida A&M, earned spots on the football and baseball teams, and was granted an athletic scholarship.

Coleman was a punter and placekicker for the football team, following the lead of his cousin, Greg Coleman, who was a punter for 10 seasons in the NFL, primarily with the Minnesota Vikings.

One of Vince Coleman’s baseball teammates at Florida A&M was Lary Aaron, son of home run king Hank Aaron. In his sophomore year, Coleman broke his wrist and sat out the baseball season. As a junior in 1981, Coleman batted .383 with 65 stolen bases in 66 games. He hit .407 as a senior and had 42 steals in 28 games.

The NFL’s Washington Redskins invited Coleman to a minicamp in May 1982 and urged him to become a wide receiver, but Coleman was hesitant to try. The next week, Coleman was selected by the Cardinals in the 10th round of baseball’s amateur draft and he signed with them.

Coleman was a fan of the Angels because they had his favorite player, Rod Carew, “but I was glad the Cardinals drafted me because I knew (manager) Whitey Herzog likes to have a running team,” Coleman told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

Fast track

The Cardinals assigned Coleman to their rookie league club at Johnson City in 1982 and he had 43 stolen bases in 58 games.

Coleman went to Macon in 1983 and established a professional single-season record with 145 stolen bases. Coleman accomplished the feat in 113 games after sitting out most of June because of a broken right hand. “I think I’m the fastest man in baseball,” Coleman said.

The 1983 season also was when Coleman, a natural right-hander, became a switch-hitter. He hit .350 right-handed and .357 left-handed for Macon.

The Cardinals brought Coleman to St. Louis on Sept. 3, 1983, to be honored in a pre-game ceremony for his stolen base record. After that, he reported to the Springfield, Ill., farm club to help in the Midwest League playoffs.

From there, Coleman reported to the Cardinals’ Florida Instructional League to focus on hitting curves and sliders.

Coleman skipped the Class AA level and opened the 1984 season with Class AAA Louisville. “I’d be delighted if Vince could hit .250 or .260 after jumping all the way to Triple A,” Louisville manager Jim Fregosi told the Louisville Courier-Journal. “It’s a natural thing for him to struggle.”

Coleman batted .257 with 101 stolen bases in 152 games for Louisville, but the Cardinals didn’t bring him to the big leagues when rosters expanded in September. “I’m a little down about not going up,” Coleman said.

Learning curve

Coleman reported to the Cardinals’ major-league spring training camp at St. Petersburg, Fla., for the first time in 1985. Cardinals shortstop Ozzie Smith tried to arrange a $5,000 match race between Coleman and McGee to find out who was fastest. When third baseman Terry Pendleton learned of the plan, he asked to be included in the race, even though he lacked speed. “If they both slip, I could win,” Pendleton told the Post-Dispatch.

McGee wanted no part of the race and Herzog told Coleman, “You should never race. Somebody would have to lose. This way, nobody will ever know. It will be a mystery.”

Herzog called Coleman “the best prospect in baseball,” but Coleman flailed at breaking balls out of the strike zone, batted .138 (4-for-29) in spring training games and was re-assigned to Louisville.

“When I started out, I figured it would take four or five years to get to the major leagues,” Coleman said. “If I don’t make it (this year), I won’t be disappointed.”

Said Herzog: “He’s as good a worker as I’ve ever had in one of my camps. You might see him up here before the year is over.”

The Cardinals opened the 1985 season with an outfield of Lonnie Smith in left, McGee in center and Andy Van Slyke in right, with Landrum the backup.

Coleman batted .143 (3-for-21) in five games with Louisville, but, when Landrum went on the disabled list because of a pulled abdominal muscle and McGee was shelved for a few days because of a strained thigh muscle, the Cardinals called up Coleman on April 17.

Best of class

In his debut game, on April 18, 1985, against the Expos at St. Louis, Coleman had a single, walk and two stolen bases. Boxscore

The next night, April 19, Coleman had four hits, including a RBI-triple in the eighth against John Candelaria, in a 5-4 Cardinals victory over the Pirates. Boxscore

“He’s a cocky little son of a gun, isn’t he?” Herzog said. “It’s amazing what a spark like that can do for a ballclub.”

Coleman credited Cardinals coaches Johnny Lewis and Dave Ricketts for his success. “They were the ones who were with me when I became a switch-hitter three years ago,” Coleman said. “They basically know me as a hitter. They know what I should do and what not to do.”

When McGee returned to the lineup, Coleman remained and Lonnie Smith was traded to the Royals in May. “I would venture to say there’s never been a better defensive outfield than Van Slyke, McGee and Vince,” Herzog said. “For speed, arms and defense, you can’t get much better than that.”

Coleman went on to shatter the major-league rookie stolen base record of 72 established by Juan Samuel of the 1984 Phillies. Coleman’s 110 steals in 1985 are surpassed only by Rickey Henderson of the Athletics (130 in 1982) and Lou Brock of the Cardinals (118 in 1974). Video

Coleman, who scored 107 runs, was the first unanimous choice for the National League Rookie of the Year Award since Orlando Cepeda of the 1958 Giants and the fourth Cardinals player to win the award, joining outfielders Wally Moon (1954), Bill Virdon (1955) and Bake McBride (1974).

Coleman led the National League in stolen bases in each of his six seasons with St. Louis (1985-90) and three times swiped more than 100 bases _ 110 in 1985, 107 in 1986 and 109 in 1987.