Vince Coleman Made a Quick First Impression in Seattle
His place in NW history is written in the cards
1996 Score Vince Coleman (#441) - Card of the Day
Ever since he debuted for the Cincinnati Reds in 2023, Elly De La Cruz has been on a one-man crusade to bring the stolen base back into the limelight. Not since Vince Coleman stole 110 bases as as a rookie for the Cardinals in 1985 has one player so electrified the game with his wheels.
Elly, of course, brings other elements to the (ahem) plate, including a monster power swing, with the strikeout breeze to go along with it. Coleman, on the other hand, was all about speed, swiping more than 100 bases in each of his first three seasons.
But by the mid-1990s, that act (and others) was wearing thin with major league teams, and Coleman had lost at least a touch off his top-end speed as he entered his middle 1930s.
Three years after signing a big free agent deal with the Mets, Coleman landed in Kansas City before the 1994 season, traded along with cold hard cash to the Royals in exchange for Kevin McReynolds.
Coleman played all of the strike-shortened 1994 with the Royals, turning in some of his worst numbers ever — .240 batting average, .285 on-base percentage, typical .340 slugging percentage in 104 games. He did swipe 50 bases, but even with that base boost, Coleman was a net negative in terms of WAR (-1.6 by Baseball Reference’s reckoning).
Past the midway point of the 1995 season, things were looking a little brighter in some regards, as Coleman was hitting .287 and getting on base at a .348 clip. But by August 15, the Royals’ record stood at 48-50, and they were a disheartening 18 games out of first place in the American League Central.
With K.C. already in marking-time mode, they decided to move on from their speedy left fielder and dealt him to the Mariners that same day for a player to be named later — the M’s sent Jim Converse to the Royals three days later.
Now, the Mariners weren’t exactly setting the world on fire. In fact, they were just about in the same boat as the Royals, sitting at 51-50 and 12 1/2 games out in the American League West. But the Mariners at least still thought they had a chance to take the newly-minted wild card berth, and they’d also had trouble settling on a regular in left field.
So in came Coleman, and manager Lou Piniella stuck him in that hole in the outfield — and in the leadoff slot in the lineup.
Coleman made his Mariners debut on August 16, going 2-for-5 with a stolen base and scoring two runs as Seattle beat the Twins in Minnesota. From there, Coleman played in 39 more games for the M’s, with 37 of them being starts in left. Overall, he hit .290 and got on base at a .335 clip down the stretch, stealing 16 bases and logging 27 runs in 40 appearances.
It was pretty solid play that actually checked in a notch below his performance earlier in the summer with the Royals (by measure of OPS+, at least). But the Mariners weren’t complaining.
In fact, the Mariners were thriving. From the time Coleman arrived through the end of the season, Seattle went 28-16 as the Angels collapsed above them. Seattle won the division title — their first ever — on the last day of the season.
Next up were the New York Yankees, who claimed that Wild Card slot the M’s had coveted early on. Seattle won a frenetic series on a famous final play in the 11th inning of the fifth and deciding game.
Many credit that series win with saving baseball in Seattle and setting the team up for a brand new stadium.
For his part, Coleman was where he always was during that series — batting leadoff and playing left. He hit just .217 with a single steal, but he did manage to pop a home run off Andy Pettitte in Game 2.
Seattle lost the American League Championship Series in six games to the Cleveland Indians, and Coleman certainly did his part in that one, hitting an even .100, though with four steals…that led to zero runs.
In the offseason, Coleman signed a one-year free agent deal for the Reds, who released him in June 1996. Then he was off to the Angels, and finally the Tigers, where he made his last MLB appearance on April 14, 1997.
Before his career petered out, though, and as he was trying to make a go of it in Cincinnati, Coleman winked at collectors from his Mariners uniform in the spring of 1996.
By then there were plenty of card choices, pretty much enough to suit any taste. But it’s tough to beat the 1996 Score Coleman for a snapshot of what his game was all about, and what he brought to the 1995 Mariners.
Coleman was small ball and speed all the way — that ALCS homer notwithstanding — so what better way to celebrate his last big hurrah in the majors than a bunt?
Related Card or Player
It’s easy to think of Coleman as “all wheels” since he really only excelled on the bases. But that’s not really true — he took his licks at-bat and played plenty of innings in the field.
Herb Washington, on the other hand, really was all wheels. In 105 games played between 1974 and 1975, the A’s pinch runner came to bat zero times and took the field zero times. He did steal 31 bases and score 33 runs, though.
And Washington also had one of the grooviest rookie cards (or was it an “only card”) the hobby has ever seen. You can read all about that classic hunk of cardboard right here.
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Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to see if I can catch a glimpse of Elly on the bases — no easy feat, given his speed. Hope you’re enjoying the show, and the season, because neither will last forever.
Thanks for reading.
—Adam
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