Dick Cole

Richard Roy Cole

Biographical Information[edit]

One of the few bespectacled players of the time, infielder Dick Cole was only 17 when he began his playing career with the Sacramento Solons in the Pacific Coast League in 1943. He came out of the military service in 1946 to hit .386 for the Fresno Cardinals and win the California League batting title before spending three seasons in the International League with the Rochester Red Wings. After beginning 1951 with the St. Louis Cardinals, Dick was traded to the Pittsburgh Pirates. As a semi-regular for the Pirates in 1953 and 1954, he hit a steady .270, and last appeared in 15 games for the world champion Milwaukee Braves in 1957, concluding a six-year stay hitting .249.

After his playing career, Dick managed in the New York Mets organization in the early 1960s and was a Chicago Cubs coach for part of the 1961 as part of the College of Coaches experiment. Cole then joined baseball's Central Scouting Bureau. He was a scout for the Pittsburgh Pirates from 1970 to 1974, earning the title of Scouting Supervisor the last three years. A resident of Costa Mesa, CA, he continued to scout for the San Francisco Giants in southern California until his death in 2018.

Year	Team	League	Record	Finish	Organization	Playoffs	Notes
1961	Wenatchee Chiefs	Northwest League		--	Chicago Cubs		replaced Vedie Himsl/ replaced by Bobby Adams
1962	Auburn Mets	New York-Penn League	62-57	3rd (t)	New York Mets	League Champs
1963	Auburn Mets	New York-Penn League	76-54	1st	New York Mets	Lost in 1st round

1970	GCL Pirates	Gulf Coast League	23-40	8th	Pittsburgh Pirates
1971	Niagara Falls Pirates	New York-Penn League	29-30	3rd	Pittsburgh Pirates		replaced Chuck Cottier (8-3)