Former Roosevelt baseball star Mike Coolbaugh dead

[Johnny_Blaze_47]

Mike had just joined the Tulsa Drillers earlier this month. In fact, right as they came through San Antonio.

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Tulsa first-base coach dies after being struck in head by line drive
ESPN.com news services

NORTH LITTLE ROCK, Ark. -- The batting coach for the Tulsa Drillers was pronounced dead at a hospital Sunday evening after being struck in the head by a line drive as he stood in the first-base coach's box during a Texas League game with the Arkansas Travelers, police said.

The game was suspended in the ninth inning after Mike Coolbaugh, 35, was hit by a hard-hit foul ball off the bat of Tino Sanchez and taken to Baptist Medical Center-North Little Rock.

Phil Elson, spokesman for the Travelers, said Coolbaugh was struck by the ball on the right side of his head, or on the forehead -- "I'm getting conflicting reports" -- and fell to the ground immediately.

According to a report posted on the Drillers' Web site late Sunday, Coolbaugh was knocked unconscious and CPR was administered to him on the field.

Sgt. Terry Kuykendall, spokesman for North Little Rock police, said Coolbaugh was still alive when he was put in an ambulance for the trip to the hospital, but quit breathing as the ambulance arrived at the facility.

"They tried to resuscitate him, but he was pronounced dead at 9:47 p.m.," Kuykendall said.

Coolbaugh played 44 games in the major leagues over two seasons, his last appearance with the St. Louis Cardinals in 2002. The Drillers' web site said Coolbaugh joined the Tulsa team's staff on July 3.

The Travelers, an Angels affiliate, led 7-3 at the time the game was suspended with no outs and a runner on first in the top of the ninth inning. Officials said a date and time for finishing the game had not yet been chosen.

Tulsa is a Rockies affiliate.

Information from The Associated Press contributed to this story.

http://sports.espn.go.com/minorlbb/news/story?id=2945798

[Flight3107]

How sad


My prayers are with his familly

[FromWayDowntown]

I played football and baseball against Mike for 4 years in high school. (I'm pretty sure that SpursWoman went to Roosevelt with Mike, too).

He's probably best remembered among SA old timers for having been the target of John Ferrara's flying clipboard at halftime of a football game against Judson in the fall of 1989. It was a terrible incident, but Mike perservered through it and came out better because of it, I thought. He had opportunities to go to to UT to play baseball (and maybe even football -- I don't remember) but chose to pursue his dream to play big league ball. I have always kept an eye on his career, if only because he's my contemporary; I also got to know one of his cousins a few years ago and have been more tuned in to what was going on with Mike of late.

Friends of mine who knew him better than I did thought the world of him as a competitor and as a person.

This is such a tragic story. It's one of those stories that really, really hits home for me.

[samikeyp]

I played football and baseball against Mike for 4 years in high school. (I'm pretty sure that SpursWoman went to Roosevelt with Mike, too).

She did. One of my best friends went to TR with SW as well as Mike and his older brother Scott.

I remember the Ferrara thing and how it unfolded. (Guess that makes us SA Old timers, FWD? :) )

Sad story of one so young.

[JMarkJohns]

Never know of him, but this sucks! Maybe coaches should be wearing batting helmets? Mark Grace was just joking about how Cliff Floyd used to scare him to death when he was a first-baseman, because he just rocketed the ball down the line.

It may not be a bad idea? Most times the coaches are looking into the dugouts...

[AlamoSpursFan]

I went to TR with the Coolbaugh's too. I didn't know either one real well, but they were acquaintances and I remember Mike being really cool and down to earth, while Scott was a bit on the stuck-up side.

This sucks. I always pulled for Mike and tried to follow his career.

RIP.

[2centsworth]

RIP. I played against Mike.

[Johnny_Blaze_47]

Media Information
For Immediate Release

Kayser Expresses Sorrow at the Loss of Mike Coolbaugh

Texas League President Tom Kayser expressed profound sorrow today after learning of the loss of Tulsa first base coach Mike Coolbaugh, who died last night as the result of an injury he sustained during the Drillers game at Arkansas.

“On behalf of the entire Texas League family I want to express our heartfelt condolences to Mike’s wife Mandy, sons Joseph and Jacob and all the members of his family,” Kayser stated. “This is a tragedy beyond words. Mike was just beginning the next phase of his baseball career, as a hitting coach, something he was enjoying and finding great satisfaction in very quickly. His passing will be deeply felt by his many friends in this and many other leagues in professional baseball. Our thoughts and prayers go out to the entire Coolbaugh family.”

Kayser also announced that the Drillers and Spirit Bank of Tulsa have set up a memorial fund to benefit the Coolbaugh family. Checks can be made payable to the Mike Coolbaugh Memorial Fund and sent to:

Mike Coolbaugh Memorial Fund
c/o Spirit Bank
1800 S. Baltimore Ave.
Tulsa, OK 74119

Donations can also be made in person at any Tulsa area Spirit Bank location.

All proceeds collected will go directly to the Coolbaugh family. Spirit Bank began the fund with a $5,000 donation.

Funeral arrangements for Coolbaugh are still pending.

[timvp]

He was an instructor at a baseball camp I went to as a kid.

R.I.P.

[slayermin]

I think I met his brother Scott at a party or Fiesta event once threw mutual friends.

Very sad.

Condolences to the Coolbaughs.

[tlongII]

I didn't realize he was from San Antonio until now. From what I've read he seemed like a very nice guy. How sad. :(

[Johnny_Blaze_47]

http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/stories/MYSA072407.1D.FloresColumn.en.345d7d3.html

David Flores: Coolbaugh's tragic death defies belief
Web Posted: 07/23/2007 11:51 PM CDT

Express-News

Some columns are difficult to write. This is one of them.

We don't expect people in the sports arena, be they athletes, coaches or officials, to die before our eyes during the heat of competition.

That is why the death of Tulsa Drillers coach Mike Coolbaugh, a 1990 Roosevelt High School graduate whose passion for baseball was exceeded only by his love for his family and friends, is so difficult to believe.

And accept.

Coolbaugh, who was 35, died Sunday night after being struck in the head by a line drive as he stood in the first-base coach's box during a game with Arkansas.

Talk about a horrible fluke.

Still, given all the baseball games played in this country each season, it makes one wonder why this never had happened before.

As the accident that claimed Coolbaugh's life illustrates, a baseball field can be a dangerous place. But, really, what were the odds that he would die in such a tragic way?

Another accident in a memorable locker-room incident 18 years ago this fall tarnished Coolbaugh's senior football season and ended the late John Ferrara's career as a public-school coach.

With his team trailing Judson 21-0 at halftime of a key district game on Oct. 28, 1989, an angry Ferrara hurled a clipboard at a wall in frustration.

Unfortunately, the object hit Coolbaugh in the face and cut him badly. He had to be taken to the hospital and Ferrara was fired as the Rough Riders' coach a few days later.

Even though he went on to a long pro baseball career after graduating, Coolbaugh never escaped his association with that infamous incident. But he handled the unwanted attention with the dignity that defined his life.

"Mike was always the same easygoing person and just blended in with everybody," said Robert Newsome, a wide receiver on the 1989 team who graduated with Coolbaugh.

Joe Almaraz, who was Coolbaugh's baseball coach at Roosevelt through his junior season, remembered a talented shortstop who was committed to improve.

"He had a passion for the game and had a great knowledge of it," said Almaraz, now a minor-league coach and scout for the St. Louis Cardinals. "I thought he was a great baseball player."

Coolbaugh was that and more.

"What a quality person and what a loss," said Mario Barrett, who was Coolbaugh's baseball coach at Roosevelt his senior season.

Throughout the day Monday, I remembered the fresh-faced young man who was a model student-athlete at Roosevelt. Polite and respectful — it was always "yes, sir" and "no, sir" — Coolbaugh was a leader on the Rough Riders' football and baseball teams.

"He never wavered, never broke under pressure," Newsome said.

Although he was a talented athlete — he also played basketball — Coolbaugh was never a braggart. He was a likable guy because he was humble.

It's human nature to enlarge good people in death, but in Coolbaugh's case, those who knew him always said good things about him even when he was among us.

That will be his enduring legacy to his family and something his children can take pride in when they're older.

"You couldn't ask for a better young man," former Roosevelt football coach Marty Shaughnessy said.

Mike Crocker didn't coach Coolbaugh but knew him and his older brother, Scott, also a standout football and baseball player at Roosevelt, quite well. Although Crocker had stepped down as the Rough Riders' football coach and gone into administration by the time Mike went to Roosevelt, he followed his career closely.

"If you ordered kids out of a Sears catalog, that's what would come in the mail," Crocker said. "He and Scott were great kids. Mike was always nice, polite and humble. This is so sad."

And unbelievable.

[Johnny_Blaze_47]

Athlete rooted in S.A. dies at game he loved

Web Posted: 07/23/2007 11:25 PM CDT

David King
Express-News

Cody Fuller knew something was seriously wrong the moment Mike Coolbaugh collapsed.

A line drive had hit Coolbaugh, a San Antonio resident working as first-base coach for the Texas League's Tulsa Drillers, in the head during the team's game against the Arkansas Travelers on Sunday night.

Fuller, the Travelers' right fielder, said his heart started to race.

"And then my immediate response was to kneel and start praying, to ask for God's hand upon him," said Fuller, a third-year pro who graduated from Smithson Valley High School.

An hour later, Coolbaugh was declared dead at a North Little Rock, Ark., hospital.

Less than a month into his first coaching job, the 35-year-old graduate of Roosevelt High School was the victim of what baseball experts say is one of the rarest occurrences in the game: a player or coach dying from an on-field accident. Just one major-league player, the Cleveland Indians' Ray Chapman, has been killed since 1900; he was hit in the head by a pitch in 1920.

"In my 30 years in baseball, I don't know of another incident like this one," said Texas League President Tom Kayser. "There have been on-field personnel injured, yes. Severely? Yes. Dying as the result of direct play? No."

Coolbaugh joined the Drillers, the Double-A affiliate of the Colorado Rockies, on July 3 while the team was in San Antonio. He was the interim hitting coach.

His playing career spanned 17 seasons, 18 teams and nine big-league organizations, including 39 games for the Milwaukee Brewers in 2001 and five for the St. Louis Cardinals in 2002. He had come home this spring after going through training camp with the Olmecas de Tabasco of the Mexican League.

"We were going to be done with it, but his kids wanted to see him" on the field, his wife, Amanda, told the Associated Press.

The couple has two boys, ages 3 and 5, and she is expecting a third in October.

Sunday's game will not be completed. The Drillers' contest at Wichita, Kan., and the Travelers' home game against Springfield, Mo., scheduled for Monday were postponed.

Arkansas led Sunday night's game 7-3 in the ninth inning. Tulsa's Matt Miller led off with a single, bringing left-handed-hitting Tino Sanchez to the plate. On a 3-1 count, Travelers pitcher Aaron Pullin delivered an inside fastball — an ideal strategy, as Sanchez could do nothing but hit it foul.

However, he also hit it fast and hard — so fast that Coolbaugh, even with the reflexes of a veteran third baseman, could not avoid it.

"He kind of hooked it foul; when that happens and the ball is going that fast, the ball isn't going straight," said Miller, who played at Texas State University-San Marcos.

Miller and Fuller, who both say details of the incident remain burned in their memories, said the ball hit Coolbaugh in the temple and he immediately collapsed.

Doctors and medical personnel came out of the stands and the dugouts, and an ambulance arrived within 15 minutes. But Coolbaugh was pronounced dead at Baptist Medical Center-North Little Rock at 9:47 p.m., less than an hour later.

"It's not that he didn't anticipate it," Miller said of the line drive. "It's that he didn't have time to anticipate it."

Both Miller and Fuller said the players were stunned, as was the remainder of an announced crowd of 4,538 at Dickey-Stephens Park. Fuller said he and teammates prayed for Coolbaugh on the field, and then gathered with Tulsa players in the clubhouse.

"It's one of those things where you don't know what to do, but if you have faith in Christ, that's one response to a tragedy," he said.

Coolbaugh's older brother, Scott, is the hitting coach for the Texas League's Frisco RoughRiders. The team had left Wolff Stadium after Sunday night's game against the Missions, and he was notified by cell phone.

Mike Coolbaugh was a standout athlete at Roosevelt, an all-city quarterback and a baseball player good enough to earn a scholarship offer from the University of Texas. Perhaps the most notable moment in his high school career came at halftime of a district football game in 1989 against Judson, when Roosevelt coach John Ferrara threw a clipboard that struck Coolbaugh.

"He just got excited and threw that clipboard, and I just happened to be in the way," Coolbaugh later said of the incident, which ended Ferrara's public-school coaching career.

San Antonian Al LaMacchia, at the time a vice president of the Toronto Blue Jays, recommended the club draft Coolbaugh in 1990. He signed with the team after being selected in the 16th round, but never advanced beyond Double-A with the Jays, and wound up with just a handful of games in the major leagues in his 17 seasons as a pro.

But he stayed with the game as long as he could, playing long after most of those drafted that year had retired.

"He never wanted to get out of baseball," LaMacchia said. "I'm glad he got to play at least a little bit in the major leagues, because he loved the game so much."

Coolbaugh's death produced tributes from throughout baseball, including a statement from Commissioner Bud Selig.

"Mike came from a baseball family, and he was a part of the baseball family," Selig said. "On behalf of all of Major League Baseball, I extend my deepest sympathy to his wife Mandy, their children and all of their family and friends."

A fund has been set up at Spirit Bank in Tulsa. All the Texas League teams, as well as the Triple-A Round Rock Express — where Coolbaugh played in 2003 and '05 — are expected to schedule fundraisers. The Texas League also will make a substantial contribution, Kayser said.

The postponed games will be made up this week, but the players said it's going to be difficult to focus on baseball.

"Baseball is an afterthought for me right now," Miller said. "This season really hasn't gone how I've wanted it to personally, but that really doesn't mean anything right now. There's so-much-bigger things out there right now. There are so many people who are going to be affected by this.

"It just, well, ridiculous that anything like this could happen."

http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/stories/MYSA072407.01A.BBM_Coolbaugh.34e1031.html

[T Park]

Didn't know he was from SA, but I remembered him getting called up to the Cardinals one summer after he was just blistering the ball down at AAA and he played for a while.


RIP.

[Booharv]

What happens to his wife now? Is she going to get some sort of insurance payout? They have two young children, and she is pregnant. I hope the family doesn't struggle in the future.

[Johnny_Blaze_47]

What happens to his wife now? Is she going to get some sort of insurance payout? They have two young children, and she is pregnant. I hope the family doesn't struggle in the future.

IIRC, since he played at least one game in the majors, he is eligible for the pension plan and I would think insurance.

Also, there are a number of organizations donating money and organizing fundraisers for Mike's family.

[Booharv]

IIRC, since he played at least one game in the majors, he is eligible for the pension plan and I would think insurance.

Also, there are a number of organizations donating money and organizing fundraisers for Mike's family.

Thanks, hope things work out alright for her and the children.

[tlongII]

A girl died after being hit by a softball the day after Coolbaugh died. How sad.

http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/07/25/softball.death.ap/index.html

[SpursWoman]

Mike & I went to Roosevelt together, we graduated in 1990. It's very strange reading quotes from all of these coaches and people I knew that I haven't seen in 17 years talking about something so tragic. Very, very sad. :(

[SpursWoman]

And after the clip board incident, he walked around very self-conscience about the bandage over his nose. And didn't seem to care too much for the attention.

Although, he was pretty damn proud of that Porche his daddy bought him when he signed with Toronto...sometime right before we graduated. :)

[SpursWoman]

A girl died after being hit by a softball the day after Coolbaugh died. How sad.

http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/07/25/softball.death.ap/index.html


OMG. :(

[King]

What was the clipboard incident?

[Johnny_Blaze_47]

What was the clipboard incident?

Mike's coach (John Ferrara) was upset at halftime of one of their games and he threw a clipboard that struck Mike in the face. Mike was cut, family sued, Ferrera left public school coaching.

[King]

Was it just an errant throw - or was something directed at Mike?

[Johnny_Blaze_47]

I've heard both (but granted, I was 9 or 10 at the time).

[Johnny_Blaze_47]

Great piece from Elizabeth Merrill:

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2954069&lpos=spotlight&lid=tab1pos1

[FromWayDowntown]

I went to Mike's viewing on Sunday, mostly because a very close family friend is one of Mike's cousins and I wanted to be there for her and her family. It was agonizingly emotional for everyone there. I could only imagine if he had been my friend and teammate. At best, Mike and I were nothing more than adversarial competitors who shared a lot of fields with each other -- always him shining far brighter than me. I spent a lot of my high school days despising Mike in a competitive sense, because it seemed that Roosevelt always beat us.

I vividly recall the clipboard incident. It brought about an immediate change in my sentiments towards Mike. That game was between an undefeated Judson team and an undefeated Roosevelt team that was something of an upstart in that district. Things didn't go well early for Roosevelt in the first half (they were down something like 21-0) and, as I understood the course of events, Ferrara -- who was reputed to be quite a hothead (my junior year, he pulled his team off the field to protest a call that went against them) -- entered the dressing room and threw the clipboard.

I have little doubt that it's proximity to Mike was not a coincidence -- everyone around in those days knew that Mike was that team's leader and a damned good quarterback (he was the consensus All-City First Team QB in 1989, besting players like Kyle Allen (who played at University of Houston, IIRC) and Mike Jinks (who played in 2 state title games while at Judson) among others. He was good enough that he had opportunities to play football at places like BYU, Purdue, and LSU but decided to play baseball. In any event, I don't think Ferrara was just randomly throwing his clipboard and his asinine rage cost Mike a couple of games and, I'm sure, a great deal of anguish. His cousin told me yesterday that until the clipboard incident, Mike was always a football player first and a baseball player during the football off-season. I'm told -- though I don't know -- that the clipboard incident forever altered his view of those things.

One thing that immediately struck me about about the ceremonies on Sunday was just how many people came to pay their respects and express their grief. Obviously, a large percentage of the younger people there were friends and teammates from Mike's days at Roosevelt; but I did notice other guys who were my age who played at other schools but felt some need to be there. There weren't many dry eyes in the house. A screen at the front of the room, just to the left of the casket played a slideshow of pictures from his life, mostly pictures from his baseball playing days. It included a short video clip of his first major league home run. It also included video from his wedding reception. The whole thing evoked such a profound sadness from most, if not all, who were there.

[AlamoSpursFan]

I wish I could have been there for the ceremony. Not because I really knew Mike. I didn't. But I will never forget the fact that he always greeted me by name when I saw him around school. And he was always respectful, for no reason other than I was an upperclassman. I was a career band and journalism geek and he was the heir apparent to the starting QB's job. Mike had every reason to be a jerk, but he never was. My only contact with Mike was that I had childhood friends that were on the football team and he was on the football team. We had mutual friends, nothing more. And yet, when I passed him in the hall, meaning to say "How's it going, Mike?" he always beat me to it. It was like he enjoyed being the first to say "What's up?" to a nobody.

I wish his family nothing but the best. They have been and will continue to be in my thoughts and prayers. R.I.P. Mike.

[SpursWoman]

One thing that immediately struck me about about the ceremonies on Sunday was just how many people came to pay their respects and express their grief. Obviously, a large percentage of the younger people there were friends and teammates from Mike's days at Roosevelt; but I did notice other guys who were my age who played at other schools but felt some need to be there. There weren't many dry eyes in the house. A screen at the front of the room, just to the left of the casket played a slideshow of pictures from his life, mostly pictures from his baseball playing days. It included a short video clip of his first major league home run. It also included video from his wedding reception. The whole thing evoked such a profound sadness from most, if not all, who were there.

My older brother went ('87) ... he played baseball at TR with Mike ... and kind of mentored him when Mike was a freshman and he was a senior. He was pretty torn up, even after all of this time. It still doesn't seem real....and it's weird that our 20 year reunion is in 3 years, and he won't be a big part of it like he was our 10th. :(

[Johnny_Blaze_47]

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/writers/the_bonus/09/18/coolbaugh0924/

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/multimedia/photo_gallery/0709/coolbaugh.mlb/content.1.html