Slick Coffman

George David "Slick" Coffman (December 11, 1910 – May 8, 2003) was an American baseball pitcher. He played 18 years of professional baseball, including four years in Major League Baseball with the Detroit Tigers (1937–1939) and St. Louis Browns. In his major league debut in May 1937, Coffman won in an 11-inning, 4–2 pitching duel with Lefty Grove. Coffman compiled a career record of 15–12 in innings pitched with a 5.60 earned run average.

Biography

Early years Coffman was born in Veto, Alabama, a "little town about 25 feet south of the Tennessee state line." He graduated from high school in Athens, Alabama. Coffman's older brother, Dick Coffman, was a major league pitcher for 15 seasons. The older brother made his major league debut in April 1927 while "Slick" was a 16-year-old high school student.

Minor leagues After graduating from high school, Coffman played semi-professional baseball with the local team in Athens, a member of the Bee Line League. After one year with Athens, he played with minor league team in Montgomery, Alabama, and Dothan in the South Atlantic League.

Coffman's pitching ultimately drew the attention of major league scouts, and he was signed by the Detroit Tigers. In 1935, Coffman was assigned to the Charleston Senators in the Middle Atlantic League. Despite an 8–13 record in 1935, Coffman's 2.87 earned run average and his fastball showed promise.

In 1936, Coffman won 13 games and lost 12 for Beaumont.

Coffman was promptly called up to Detroit and joined the Tigers in Philadelphia, and Cochrane told Coffman that he would pitch the first game of a series in Boston. In Boston, Coffman recalled that the newspaper headlines reported that "the young upstart from the cotton fields of Alabama would pitch against the incomparable Lefty Grove." Coffman and Grove both pitched complete games, and Coffman allowed eight hits in 11 innings; he also had a hit in Detroit's 11th inning rally.

In 1938, Coffman continued in his role as a relief pitcher for Detroit. His 39 games was ninth most in the American League, and only six of his appearances were as a starter. He finished the 1938 season with a record of 4–4 and an earned run average of 6.02 in innings pitched.

Coffman was with the Tigers in June 1939 when Lou Gehrig was pulled from the Yankees lineup in a game at Briggs Stadium. Coffman recalled, "Gehrig took infield practice as always that day and many fans were unaware that a historic event was about to take place. We had already been informed by Manager Del Baker that Lou would not play. When the announcement was made that Gehrig was being removed from the lineup it shook a sellout crowd up like nothing before had ever done. They gave the Ole Iron Horse a standing ovation which one would have to see to believe."

Recognizing that Coffman was angry over the Tigers' decision to trade him, the Browns' manager designated Coffman as the Browns' starting pitcher on opening day in April 1940. In front of nearly 50,000 Detroit fans, Coffman beat Detroit's Bobo Newsom.

Second run in minor leagues Coffman played only one season for the Browns, but he remained active in baseball for another decade. He continued to play in the American Association and Pacific Coast League until 1949. His longest stint was five years with the St. Paul Saints in 1942 and 1945–1948. He finished his professional baseball career playing three games for the Toledo Mud Hens in 1949 at age 38. Overall, he went 63–74 in the minor leagues to go along with a 15–12 major league record.

Later years In 1949, Coffman was hired by his former Detroit roommate Hank Greenberg to manage a minor league club in the Cleveland Indians organization. He later scouted for the Indians until a back injury forced him to retire from baseball.

Coffman reportedly "loved baseball and loved to talk." In 1953, Coffman attended a game in Detroit and was talking to Ted Williams when a photographer took their picture. The photograph appeared in the newspaper the next day with the caption, "A baseball oddity, Ted Williams with his eyes closed and Slick Coffman with his mouth shut."

Coffman died in 2003 at age 92 in Birmingham, Alabama.