Walter Coleman

Walter Lee Coleman

• Bats Unknown, Throws Left
• Height 5' 10", Weight 174 lb.

• Debut September 25, 1895
• Final Game September 25, 1895
• Born June 13, 1873 in Lees Summit, MO USA
• Died November 20, 1925 in Bunceton, MO USA

BR page

Biographical Information

Walter Coleman pitched one major league game, for the St. Louis Browns on September 25, 1895. He and a player named "Atkinson" saw their only major league action that day, with Atkinson playing left field. Their first names were unknown, and early researchers listed them, wrongly, as "John Coleman" and "Henry Adkinson".

Coleman was in fact Walter Louis Coleman, an amateur pitcher from Fulton, MO, who got a chance to play against the Browns in an exhibition game in his hometown after the 1894 season. He won the game, which got him a chance to play for the major league team the following year. He was hit hard in his one big league game, giving up 15 runs on 12 hits in 8 innings, losing 15-8 to the Cincinnati Reds, and returned to the amateur ranks thereafter. He operated a grain elevator in Fulton and died of a stroke in a nearby town in 1925, aged 51. Harry Atkinson was a teammate of his in Fulton, and his career also was limited to that game.

Further Reading

• "Harry Atkinson", in Bill Carle, ed.: Biographical Research Committee Report, SABR, May/June 2014, p. 8-10.