Coleman, Vincent M.
Baseball
b. Sept. 22, 1961, Jacksonville, FL
The 6-foot-1, 185-pound Coleman, a switch-hitter who threw right-handed, joined the NL's St. Louis Cardinals in 1985 and set a rookie record by stealing 110 bases. He was named the league's rookie of the year by the Baseball Writers Association of America and The Sporting News.
The Cardinals won the pennant that season but Coleman missed the World Series with an injury suffered when an automatic tarpaulin rolled over his ankle during the league championship series.
Coleman led the league in stolen bases the next five years with 107 in 1986, 109 in 1987, 81 in 1988, 65 in 1989, and 77 in 1990. He then went to the New York Mets as a free agent but missed most of the 1991 and 1992 seasons with injuries, and he appeared in only 92 games in 1993.
Coleman spent the next three seasons in the American League, with the Kansas City Royals and Seattle Mariners. He retired after batting only .155 in 33 games with the Cincinnati Reds in 1996.