1906
Born December 18, 1906
Veto, AL, USA
Dick Coffman Marquee
b. December 18, 1906 · Washington Senators 1927, 1932, St. Louis Browns 1928–1935, New York Giants 1936–1939, Boston Bees 1940, Philadelphia Phillies 1945
St. Louis had him from 1928 to 1935 and he lost 20 games in 1930 and 18 in 1931 for clubs that finished sixth and fifth. Then the Giants bought him in 1936, put him in the bullpen and used him 51 times in 1938, when he saved 12, the most in the league.
Fifteen seasons gave him 72 wins against 95, a 4.65 earned run average, 1,460 innings, 47 complete games and 38 saves across 472 appearances. He pitched in the 1936 and 1937 World Series for the Giants, both lost to the Yankees.
He was from Veto, Alabama, and his brother Slick pitched briefly for the Browns as well. He finished with the wartime Phillies in 1945 at thirty-eight. No Hall of Fame ballot ever listed him. He died in 1972, at sixty-five.
Batting, season by season
| Year | Team | G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | SB | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1927 | WSH | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | .333 |
| 1928 | SLB | 29 | 23 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 0 | .043 |
| 1929 | SLB | 27 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| 1930 | SLB | 38 | 66 | 4 | 9 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 18 | 0 | .136 |
| 1931 | SLB | 32 | 51 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 20 | 0 | .078 |
| 1932 | SLB/WSH | 31 | 44 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 13 | 0 | .068 |
| 1933 | SLB | 21 | 27 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 14 | 0 | .037 |
| 1934 | SLB | 40 | 51 | 3 | 11 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 23 | 0 | .216 |
| 1935 | SLB | 41 | 41 | 4 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 13 | 0 | .146 |
| 1936 | NYG | 42 | 20 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 0 | .200 |
| 1937 | NYG | 42 | 19 | 1 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 8 | 0 | .368 |
| 1938 | NYG | 51 | 28 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 15 | 0 | .071 |
| 1939 | NYG | 28 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | .000 |
| 1940 | BSN | 31 | 12 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 0 | .083 |
| 1945 | PHI | 14 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | .250 |
| Career | — | 472 | 400 | 21 | 51 | 11 | 1 | 0 | 16 | 22 | 151 | 0 | .128 |
Pitching, season by season
| Year | Team | W | L | G | GS | SV | IP | H | ER | BB | SO | ERA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1927 | WSH | 0 | 1 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 16.0 | 20 | 6 | 2 | 5 | 3.38 |
| 1928 | SLB | 4 | 5 | 29 | 7 | 1 | 85.2 | 122 | 58 | 37 | 25 | 6.09 |
| 1929 | SLB | 1 | 1 | 27 | 3 | 1 | 52.2 | 61 | 35 | 14 | 11 | 5.98 |
| 1930 | SLB | 8 | 18 | 38 | 30 | 1 | 196.0 | 250 | 112 | 69 | 54 | 5.14 |
| 1931 | SLB | 9 | 13 | 32 | 17 | 1 | 169.1 | 159 | 73 | 51 | 39 | 3.88 |
| 1932 | SLB/WSH | 6 | 9 | 31 | 15 | 0 | 137.1 | 158 | 62 | 52 | 31 | 4.06 |
| 1933 | SLB | 3 | 7 | 21 | 13 | 1 | 81.0 | 114 | 53 | 39 | 19 | 5.89 |
| 1934 | SLB | 9 | 10 | 40 | 21 | 3 | 173.0 | 212 | 87 | 59 | 55 | 4.53 |
| 1935 | SLB | 5 | 11 | 41 | 18 | 2 | 143.2 | 206 | 98 | 46 | 34 | 6.14 |
| 1936 | NYG | 7 | 5 | 42 | 2 | 7 | 101.2 | 119 | 44 | 23 | 26 | 3.90 |
| 1937 | NYG | 8 | 3 | 42 | 1 | 3 | 80.0 | 93 | 27 | 31 | 30 | 3.04 |
| 1938 | NYG | 8 | 4 | 51 | 3 | 12 | 111.1 | 116 | 43 | 21 | 21 | 3.48 |
| 1939 | NYG | 1 | 2 | 28 | 0 | 3 | 38.0 | 50 | 13 | 6 | 9 | 3.08 |
| 1940 | BSN | 1 | 5 | 31 | 0 | 3 | 48.1 | 63 | 29 | 11 | 11 | 5.40 |
| 1945 | PHI | 2 | 1 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 26.1 | 39 | 15 | 2 | 2 | 5.13 |
| Career | — | 72 | 95 | 472 | 132 | 38 | 1460.1 | 1782 | 755 | 463 | 372 | 4.65 |
On this day & linked events
1972
Died March 24, 1972
1927
Major-league debut: Dick Coffman
Dick Coffman made a major-league debut on April 28, 1927.
1945
Final major-league game: Dick Coffman
Dick Coffman played a final major-league game on June 28, 1945.
Image: Goudey, public domain