John Coleman

John Francis Coleman (March 6, 1863 – May 31, 1922) was an American professional baseball outfielder and pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Philadelphia Quakers, Philadelphia Athletics, and Pittsburgh Alleghenys from 1883 to 1890. Coleman holds the MLB single-season record for pitching losses, with 48, and earned runs allowed, with 291, both in his rookie season.

1883 season Coleman was born in 1863, and he started his professional baseball career with the Philadelphia Quakers of the National League in 1883. It was the first year of the franchise later known as the Philadelphia Phillies.

The Phillies played their first game of all time on April 2, 1883, when they defeated the amateur Manayunk Ashlands in an exhibition game by the score of 11–0 at Recreation Park. Coleman was the winning pitcher for Philadelphia.

In the first game of the season on May 1, Coleman and the Quakers lost to Charles Radbourn and the Providence Grays, 4–3. As the Quakers were short on usable pitchers, Coleman pitched most of the team's games that season. They were also a poor team offensively, with a league-worst .240 batting average, and defensively. The Quakers finished the season with a record of 17–81, last in the NL. Coleman started 61 games, completing 59 of them. He pitched 65 games and 538.1 innings overall and had a 12–48 win–loss record, a 4.87 earned run average, and 159 strikeouts. He led the league with 48 losses, 772 hits allowed, 291 earned runs allowed, and 17 home runs allowed, and he was third in innings pitched. His 48 losses, 772 hits allowed, and 291 earned runs allowed over that 98-game season are all single-season MLB records that have never been matched or broken. No other pitcher has lost more than 42 games in a season. Coleman's difference between wins and losses, 36, is also the largest ever. In addition to his MLB records, he also holds Phillies franchise records in games started, complete games, and innings pitched in a single season for his performance in 1883. Coleman also played 31 games as an outfielder. He finished the season with a .234 batting average.