Joe Coleman, former All-Star and pick in first MLB draft, dies at 78

Field Level Media
10 Jul 2025, 20:25 GMT+10

(Photo credit: Kirthmon F. Dozier / USA TODAY NETWORK)

Joe Coleman, the No. 3 selection in the first Major League Baseball draft in 1965, died Wednesday at age 78.

His son, former major league pitcher Casey Coleman, said his father died in his sleep in Tennessee.

Joe Coleman, a right-handed pitcher, was part of the debut amateur draft, selected by the Washington Senators. When the Senators handed him the ball on Sept. 28, 1965, the 18-year-old became the first-ever drafted player to debut in the majors. He beat the Kansas City Athletics 6-1.

He went on to amass a 142-135 record, a 3.70 ERA and seven saves in 484 games (340 starts) with the Senators (1965-70), Detroit Tigers (1971-76), Chicago Cubs (1976), Oakland Athletics (1977-78), Toronto Blue Jays (1978), and the San Francisco Giants and Pittsburgh Pirates (1979).

Coleman was an All-Star with the Tigers in 1972 when he finished 19-14 with a 2.80 ERA in 280 innings. He won 20 games in 1971 and 23 in 1973.

In that 1971 season, he was 20-9 with a 3.15 ERA despite missing time while recovering from a fractured skull.

A Boston-area native, Coleman was both the son and the father of a major leaguer.

His father, also named Joe, was a pitcher for 10 seasons from 1942-55, interrupted for military service.

--Field Level Media

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