Jimmie Coker
From BR Bullpen
Jimmie Goodwin Coker
- Bats Right, Throws Right
- Height 5' 11", Weight 195 lb.
- Debut September 11, 1958
- Final Game September 12, 1967
- Born March 28, 1936 in Holly Hill, SC USA
- Died October 29, 1991 in Throckmorton, TX USA
[edit] Biographical Information
An all around athlete at Furman University Jimmie Coker signed as an amateur free agent with the Philadelphia Phillies on February 19, 1955. He spent his first season with the class D Mattoon Phillies and the 19 year old catcher had a very good first year, appearing in 124 games, hitting 13 home runs with a batting average of .324.
Jimmie would spend the next three seasons in the high minors becoming known as a good defensive catcher with a strong throwing arm. He had 38 homers with a combined .252 batting average in these three seasons. He got his first look at the major league game with a late season call up by the 1958 Phillies, appearing in two games with six at bats.
Coker would be up and down with the Phillies and the Buffalo Bisons between the 1958 and 1962 seasons, mostly as a back-up when in the majors and on November 21, 1962 he was purchased by the Baltimore Orioles from the Philadelphia club. Before the ink was dry on the agreement the Orioles traded him along with Jack Fisher and Billy Hoeft to the San Francisco Giants for Stu Miller, Mike McCormick and John Orsino.
Jimmie would get very little playing time while with the Giants and wound up with the Cincinnati Reds where he would spend the last four years of his career, again with only minor playing time. Coker decided to get out of baseball at the end of the 1967 season, and in his nine seasons in the majors he had appeared in 233 games and ended up with a career .231 batting average.
Coker had spent 13 years in pro ball, from 1956 through 1967 and showed journeyman figures in his minor league career. He appeared in 940 games with 3,108 at bats and 864 base hits that included an even 100 home runs for a .278 batting average.
After baseball Coker was an agricultural rancher who was on the board of directors of the Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association in Throckmorton, TX, where he died on October 29, 1991 at age 55.
[edit] Notable Achievements
[edit] Sources
Baseball-Reference.com
Baseball Players of the 1950s
SABR MILB Database:page
