X
CLARION
Brevard College, Brevard, N.C.
Volume 55 Number 10
Wednesday, March 30,1988
C?
^^^^pringtime means many things
many people. But for sports
fans it means the ending of
basketball and the beginning of spring
training in baseball. And for a former
Brevard college student that brings back
memories of playing collegiate and profes
sional baseball.
Gil Coan, an outfielder for many teams,
played the majority of his career with the
Washington Senators. But before Coan
began his professional career he played at
Brevard College.
“I was from a small town (Mineral Spr
ings, N.C.) and came to BC in 1940,” said
Coan.
But Coan did not just come to Brevard to
play baseball and then go professional. He
had a little more trouble than that. “I met
my wife at school, then I got out in spring
of ’41 and I went to work in Spartanburg
and came back and worked for Ecusta and
I got married in Sept. of ’41,” said Coan.
But playing baseball was not on his mind
after he go married. “I was in love and not
going to leave Brevard. When I played
baseball, scouts saw me and offered me a
contract with Winston-Salam of Class B
ball. I instead played for the in-
departamental league at Ecusta,” said d
Coan,
After being out of baseball for a while,
Coan decided to give it another chance. “I
called the scout who signed me and went to
spring training,” said Coan.
After spring training, Coan was assigned
to Kingsport, Tenn.. “I was leading the
league in everything,” Coan said,“and got
called up to Chattanooga.”,.
And led the league he did.
He led the league in hits (201), doubles
(40), triples (28), homers (16) and batting
(,372),
After playing for Chattanooga for a
year, Coan got the big chance when his
contract was sold to the Washington
Senators in ‘46, He played eight of his 10
years with Washington. After the ‘53
season he was traded to the Baltimore
Orioles. After that season he moved to the
Chicago White Sox, then to the New York
Giants and finally finished out his career
at Minneapolis
GIL COAN
OUTFIELD
WASH. SENATORS i
Born: Monroe, N. C, May 18, '24
Height: 6 feet Weight: 180
Bats: left Throws: Right
(Gil tied a major league record
in 1951 by getting two triples
jin one inning. He appeared in
1S5 games for the Senators,
batting .303. He hit 25 doubles
and batt«d in 62 runs. He dup
licated his 1350 batting aver
age, which WES also .303, al
though he 01 ly appeared in 104
games that season. He’s a
speed boy, and can go get ’em
in the outfield
KUt AlOMG TWS
195a RED MAN Alt-STAR T£AM
AM£8}CAN iSAGUE S£«t£S-nAYER #4
■W"'
The star infielder and former Tornado star depicted on a 1952
Red Man Chewing Tobacco baseball card.
A talk with Brevard^s
Mr. Baseball
hy Jeff T urner
Gil Coan, front and center, on the
1941 Brevard College baseball
team.
During his career he played at the most
famous ballparks of all time.
He has played in Yankee Stadium, Com-
siky Park, Fenway Park and Wrigley
Field, to name a few.
Coan has played with some of the
greatest ball players of all time including
Joe DiMaggio, Ted Williams and Willie
Mays.
But of all the great baseball players
Coan said he most enjoyed meeting Connie
Mack, former coach and owner of the
Philadelphia A’s. “I sat down and talked to
him. We were going on a train from
Washington to Philadelphia. I sat down
and talked to him while eating dinner. He
was quite an individual,” Coan said.
Coan also said he met Babe Ruth in spr
ing training of ‘47. Even though Ruth was
sick you could still see his greatness, said
Coan.
But Coan’s greatest memory was not a
game but a whole weekend. “It was the
fourth of July weekend and in the first
game I hit two home runs and had six runs
batted in. In the next game I knocked in
the winning run in the eighth inning and
then hit a home run the next day,” said
Coan.
After retiring from professional baseball
he came back to Brevard College and
coached for two years, before opening his
insurance business. “I bought half the
business in ‘56 and the other half in ‘62,”
said Coan.
Coan has retired and bought a farm,
which he says he enjoys.
He says it was time. “No, I did not have
any desire to stay in baseball. I got into
business here and I haven’t missed it,”
said Coan. “Too many players stay around
too long and eventually gel too old. I was
only 34 when I got out of baseball.”
Coan did do a couple of Firsts in his
career the first of which was to fly in an
airplane. He was playing in St. Louis when
the train engineers went on strike. In order
to get the team back to Washington they
had to fly back.
“Everyone was scared to death,” said
Coan, “because of the chance of an acci
dent the whole team would be wiped out.”
There is only one reason Coan says he
regrets leaving baseball. “I wished I
would have played longer for the pension.
It is up to the maximum allowed by the
federal government. I was a charter
member when it was formed in ‘46,” said
Coan. The average players pension now
after playing 12 years is $90,000 a year.
Regarding baseball at BC, Coan said, “I
wish they could have baseball, but with
schools being out May 1, it’s hard. When I
was in college we were in until the end of
May. Unless you’ve got a program with
some money where vou can play in
Georgia or Florida, I don’t think its ad
visable,” said Coan.
But for a man who put his life of his fami
ly t)efore his first love. Coan did a great job
with his baseball career as well as in his
career life.
Along with baseball greats, he also met
some of America’s heroes. “I met Harry
Truman, General Eisenhower and Vice
President Nixon. He (Nixon) and his wife
came over and talked to me before a
parade in Baltimore because 1 had played
in Washington,” said Coan.
But Coan had problems with all of his ex
posure, “If you like that kind of thing you
could meet anyone and be around
anyone,”
Of course playing major league baseball
brings back fond memories for Coan,
“Within my memory was the ‘46 season.
We opened against the Yankees with Joe
DiMaggio, Frank Kelly, Joe Gordon - and
Ed Ruthen was the pitcher. 60,000 people
were in Yankee Stadium. In the ninth inn
ing we were losing and I was called to
pinch hit, I fouled off about 15 pitches
before he finally struck me out,” said
Coan,
i
r
Gil Coan today: no regrets.
Turner photo)
(Jeff