Zigeunerzelt » imprint on our game

SAN DIEGO -- Hall of Fame broadcaster Jerry Coleman, a former second baseman for the New York Yankees who interrupted his pro career to fly as a Marine Corps pilot in World War II and Korea, died Sunday, the San Diego Padres said. He was 89. Coleman spent more than four decades with the Padres as a broadcaster. He managed the team in 1980. Padres president Mike Dee said Coleman died at a hospital Sunday afternoon. He said the team was notified by Colemans wife, Maggie. A family friend told The Associated Press on Sunday night that Coleman had surgery before Christmas for bleeding in the brain. Doctors discovered more bleeding last week and Coleman had more surgery, said the friend, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitive nature of the situation. "Its a sad day," Padres manager Bud Black said. "Were losing a San Diego icon. Hes going to be missed." The Padres planned to keep Colemans statue at Petco Park open until 11:30 p.m. Sunday so fans could pay tribute. While recounting his military career in an interview days before the statue was unveiled in September 2012, Coleman said: "Your country is bigger than baseball." Coleman spent some seven decades in pro baseball, a career that included four World Series titles with the Yankees and was interrupted by his service in World War II and the Korean War. He flew 120 missions combined in the two wars. Coleman was awarded two Distinguished Flying Crosses, 13 Air Medals and three Navy Citations. Around Petco Park and on Padres radio broadcasts, Coleman was known as "The Colonel," having retired from the Marines with the rank of lieutenant colonel. He was the only major leaguer to see combat in two wars. "He was a wonderful human being and a great guy," Black said. "He was one of a kind. He sort of blazed his own path from San Francisco and ended up as a war hero and a major league ballplayer and doing so many things in our game. As much as hes remembered for all he accomplished as a baseball man, he was more proud of his military service." Colemans broadcast schedule had been reduced to home day games. He also did a pregame interview with Black, who said Coleman was self-deprecating and preferred to talk about the Padres rather than anything hed done with the Yankees or in the Marines. "You wouldnt know it walking down the street that he was a World Series champion and also a guy that flew fighter planes," Black said. Coleman was known for calls of "Oh, Doctor!" and "You can hang a star on that!" after big plays. He received the Ford C. Frick Award from the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 2005. He also was known for malaprops, like the time he was describing Dave Winfield going back for a long fly ball. "I said, Winfield hit his head against the wall and its rolling toward the infield. I meant the ball, of course," Coleman said in 2012. In a statement, commissioner Bud Selig said Coleman "was a hero and a role model to myself and countless others in the game of baseball. ... But above all, Jerrys decorated service to our country in both World War II and Korea made him an integral part of the Greatest Generation. He was a true friend whose counsel I valued greatly." After graduating from high school in 1942, Coleman travelled three days by train from San Francisco to Wellsville, N.Y., to report to the New York Yankees Class D affiliate. Still 17, he was too young to enlist and fight in World War II, so he got to spend the summer playing ball. After he joined the military, he flew Douglas SBD Dauntless dive bombers in the Pacific in World War II. He played three more seasons of minor league ball before making his big league debut with the Yankees on April 20, 1949. He was The Associated Press Rookie of the Year that season. Colemans best season was 1950, when he was an All-Star and was named MVP of the Yankees four-game sweep of the Philadelphia Phillies in the World Series. Among his teammates were Joe DiMaggio, Yogi Berra, Phil Rizzuto and Johnny Mize. "We won the first game 1-0 and I drove in that run," Coleman recalled in 2012. "We won the second game 2-1. I scored one of the two runs and DiMaggio hit a home run in the 10th to win it. In the third game I drove in the winning run in the last inning, and in the fourth game I rested." By "rested," he means he went 0 for 3. "I was exhausted," he said. In October 1951, Coleman found out that Marine pilots from World War II were not discharged, but on inactive status and that hed be going to Korea for 18 months. He missed the bulk of two seasons. Coleman said he took his physical along with Ted Williams in Jacksonville in 1952. Williams, a San Diego native, also was a Marine pilot in World War II, but didnt see combat duty. He did fly combat missions in Korea. When Coleman returned to the Yankees, he hit only .217. He was sent to an eye doctor, who told him hed lost his depth perception. "If youre trying to hit a baseball and you dont have depth perception, you have a problem," Coleman said. He got that corrected but then broke his collarbone in April 1955. The night he came back from that injury, he got beaned. His last season was 1957, when he hit .364 in a seven-game World Series loss to the Milwaukee Braves. Coleman worked in the Yankees front office before beginning a broadcasting career that eventually brought him to San Diego. "First and foremost, he was an American hero whose service to this country is his lasting legacy. He was also a great Yankee, a true ambassador for baseball, and someone whose imprint on our game will be felt for generations," Yankees managing general partner Hal Steinbrenner said. "On behalf of the entire New York Yankees organization, we send our deepest condolences to the Coleman family." Coleman managed the Padres in 1980, when they went 73-89 and finished last in the NL West. Coleman was fired and returned to the booth. "I should never have taken it," he said. "I look at it now and see the mistakes I made. If I wanted to be a manager, I should have gone to the minor leagues and developed there." Colemans statue at Petco Park depicts him in a flight suit. Coleman said the closest he came to being killed was in Korea when the engine in his Corsair quit during takeoff and his plane flipped. He preferred to talk about his comrades. Coleman remembered a mission over Korea when a plane piloted by his buddy, Max Harper, blew up and flew straight into the ground. "I knew there was no need for help. It was an unpleasant thing," Coleman said. In describing the two-seat Dauntless he flew in the Solomon Islands and the Philippines, Coleman said the gunner "was the bravest man I knew. If I did something wrong, he died, too." Longtime San Francisco Giants broadcaster Duane Kuiper mentioned the various halls of fame Coleman belonged to and added: "More than anything hes just a Hall of Fame guy. If he had a bad day, it was never around us. He was always in a good mood. He was quite funny. Northern California guy. Really just a great guy. Im shocked and saddened that he passed away. "Heres a guy, what didnt he do in life?" Kuiper said. Charles Oakley Jersey . -- Terry Francona likened the atmosphere at Kauffman Stadium on Tuesday to a playoff game in October. Tim Hardaway Jr. Jersey . This is the final meeting of the season between these teams.? The Capitals were 5-4 winners in a shootout Oct. http://www.officialknicksfanstore.com/customized/ . The above paragraph could be rewritten, verbatim, with Marcus Stromans name in place of Romeros. After both men had disastrous outings in Tuesdays 18-4 mauling at the hands of the Tigers, its clear that neither is the best option to begin the season in Toronto. Walt Frazier Jersey . The 17-time Grand Slam champion, who lose three straight finals in Monte Carlo to Rafael Nadal from 2006-08, has not played in the tournament since 2011, when he lost to Jurgen Melzer in the quarterfinals. Enes Kanter Jersey . Not because it was right, but because referees werent allowed to determine it was wrong.COLUMBUS, Ohio - The Winnipeg Jets power play finally produced, and rookie goalie Michael Hutchinson made the offence stand up against the slumping Columbus Blue Jackets.Evander Kane led the way, scoring two power-play goals in the Jets 4-2 win on Tuesday night.A lot of battles, especially in the third period, said Kane, who has four goals this season. They got on us pretty good and controlled a seven-minute block, and we were able to hold on.Winnipeg coach Paul Maurice agreed it wasnt always pretty, but he was happy with what he saw, especially from Hutchinson, who made 32 saves to improve to 4-1-1. He just meets the minimum games played to lead the NHL with a 1.50 goals-against average. He also has a .947-best save percentage.I liked out goaltender an awful lot, he said.Bryan Little and Andrew Ladd both had a goal and an assist, and Blake Wheeler and Jacob Trouba added two assists apiece for Winnipeg, which snapped a two-game losing streak.We can get a little bit of that positive feeling going, Maurice said.Jordan Leopold and Ryan Johansen scored for the banged-up Blue Jackets, who are on a franchise-record pace for games lost to injuries. Columbus, which entered tied for the fewest points in the NHL, have lost four in a row and 13 of 15.We had chances, Blue Jackets coach Todd Richards said. Had a few posts. But posts dont count as goals. The big thing for me is that for two periods it looked like we played a tentative game. The third period we came out and played.Kane gave Winnipeg a 2-1 lead when he tapped in a perfect centring pass from Dustin Byfuglien with 3:35 left in the second period to end the Jets seven-game power-play drought.Its nice to finally get one on the power play, and hopefully that can start a trend, Kane said.Just 31 seconds later, during a delayed penalty call wheen Wheeler was sent sliding into Columbus goalie Sergei Bobrovsky, Ladd scored his eighth goal as Bobrovsky had trouble squaring up to the shot with Wheeler still in the crease.ddddddddddddJohansen pulled the Blue Jackets within 3-2 at 9:47 of the third with his eighth. He curled around from behind the net and flicked in a backhander.Brian Gibbons nearly tied it on a setup from Artem Anisimov on a 2-on-1 rush. The rebound caromed off the end boards to Anisimov, who couldnt jam in the bouncing puck.Off another long pass and break, Cam Atkinson hit the right post with just over two minutes left.We were able to squeak it out and get the win, Kane said.Hutchinson was at his best early in the third period, stopping Jack Jackson on a backdoor shot, and Nick Foligno from the slot.Im feeling really good about where my game is right now, Hutchinson said. I feel Im reading the play well. Im able to read those seam passes and know where players are on the ice.Kane scored his fourth on the power play into an empty net to make it 4-2 at 19:42.Winnipeg just missed tying the franchise record for fastest goal to start a game by one second.The Jets won the opening faceoff, connected on a series of passes without Columbus touching the puck, and sent Little in alone. He deked Bobrovsky for his seventh goal at 9 seconds.The recently acquired Leopold tied it on the power play at 3:42, snapping in a shot from the left circle for his first goal.NOTES: The Jets record for fastest goal is 8 seconds, done three times, most recently by Ladd on Feb. 28, 2013. ... Columbus D James Wisniewski, who earned his 250th career point with an assist, and Dalton Prout played in their 500th and 100th games, respectively. ... Columbus had won seven of the previous eight meetings, dating to the 2007-2008 season. Authentic Nike Tampa Bay Buccaneers Jerseys Cheap Authentic Nike Tennessee Titans Jerseys Cheap Authentic Nike Washington Redskins Jerseys Cheap Authentic Nike Arizona Cardinals Jerseys Cheap Authentic Nike Denver Broncos Jerseys Cheap Authentic Nike Green Bay Packers Jerseys Cheap Authentic Nike Los Angeles Chargers Jerseys Cheap Authentic Nike New England Patriots Jerseys Cheap Authentic Nike Oakland Raiders Jerseys Cheap Authentic Nike Seattle Seahawks Jerseys Cheap Authentic Nike Carolina Panthers Jerseys Cheap Authentic Nike Cleveland Browns Jerseys Cheap Cheap Throwback Baseball Arizona Diamondbacks Jerseys Cheap Throwback Baseball Atlanta Braves Jerseys Cheap Throwback Baseball Baltimore Orioles Jerseys Cheap Throwback Baseball Boston Red Sox Jerseys Cheap Throwback Baseball Chicago Cubs Jerseys Cheap Throwback Baseball Chicago White Sox Jerseys Cheap Throwback Baseball Cincinnati Reds Jerseys Cheap Throwback Baseball Cleveland Indians Jerseys ' ' '