Coming on quickly Finley, Finley, Finley he’s under it he’s got it AND
THE PADRES DRAPE THE NATIONAL LEAGUE FLAG AROUND THEIR SHOULDERS FOR 1998! OHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
DOCTOR!
Not only is
this my all-time favorite call, but it was also my answering machine message
from October 1998 through the beginning of the 1999 baseball season. For every
road game in the 1998 playoffs, (as with
every nationally televised Padre game) I muted the TV and dialed up the
Colonel on the radio; hitting the record button for Game 6 of the NLCS.Another favorite came on a day in 1996. The Padres were in Florida playing the Marlins and I was in Mira Mesa on a remodeling job. Pardon the phrase, but it sounded like Jerry Coleman went absolutely berserk when Ken Caminiti grabbed a fair ground ball in foul territory and threw the runner out at first while sitting on his rear end. I almost fell off a ladder hearing his excited description of one of the most legendary plays in Padre history!
Every one
of us has a treasure trove of fond memories of Gerald Francis Coleman but to
me, the collective memory of him is what I cherish most. Recently I have been
corresponding with a well-known local radio personality in hopes of fine-tuning
a manuscript I’ve been working on. During one of our email exchanges, we talked
about another long time San Diego radio DJ who passed away ten years ago. After
this exchange I started thinking a lot about how local radio and television
personalities become an integral part of the fabric of our lives. Dave, Shelly and
Chainsaw went to school with me every morning and in my twenties, they spent
the first few hours of every weekday at work with me. On the rare occasion I’m
awake and in the car in the morning hours, my time is spent with Coe Lewis, Bob
Buchman and the rest of the 101.5 KGB morning show gang. Larry Himmel spent a
lot of time in my grandparents’ living room and I’m sure that many San Diegans
have memories of sitting at the dinner table with Bob Dale.
Nothing
against the aforementioned people but I am certain that most if not all of us
will agree that no one has endeared himself to our community and our families
more than Jerry Coleman. Jerry spent time with the Gonzales family in Rosarito
Beach every summer in the 1980’s, with the Ress family at Indian Hills Camp
every Fathers’ Day and was even in the hospital room when my son Joseph was
born. (I know, I know. Listening to the
ballgame during childbirth might not be the best idea for a daddy, but Chris
Young was on the verge of a perfect game that day!)
As a
writer, I feel that my most important tasks are to get people to think, to
feel. But what could I possibly say about the Colonel that people don’t already
think about him, don’t already feel about him? We all know the stories; Marine,
World Series MVP, local icon; not to mention the Distinguished Flying Crosses,
the Air Medals and the Navy Citations. But there is one thing about him and the
rest of our beloved local media personalities that isn’t often mentioned or
thought of:
More than
Trevor Hoffman, more than Tim Flannery and yes, even more than Tony Gwynn;
Jerry Coleman became a part of our families. And you know how I feel about our
guys on the field. But players retire, uniforms change and our address even
changed. In my lifetime there was always and only one voice.
Former
Padres Director of Media Relations and current Miami Marlins radio broadcaster Glenn
Geffner said it best when he wrote that even if Jerry Coleman had been only a
Yankees star, or only a fighter pilot, or only a broadcaster, his would have
been an unbelievable life. But he was all three. Most of us knew him as the
Voice of the Padres and as Mr. Geffner said, he led a life that would have been
extraordinary for three men.
To me,
Jerry Coleman embodied everything that made and continues to make this country
great. To sum up what I feel is the best way I could describe the man, I’ll use
some words that came to me when my own grandfather passed away;
“He was a man who did the right
thing simply because it was the right to do…”
Another great
man I have been blessed to know is former San Diego Padres Director of Military
Marketing Captain Jack Ensch, who was fond of saying “There is nothing more American than baseball and serving your
country…”. Those words have been
repeating themselves in my head and in my heart over the past couple of weeks.
And I’m sure that most if not all of you would agree that when you put it in
that context, no one was more American than Jerry Coleman.
My
sincerest thanks to the Coleman Family for sharing your Husband, Father and
Grandfather with forty years worth of grateful Padre fans…
