Monday, July 23, 2007

Mike Coolbaugh Killed in Freak Accident

Former Omaha Royal Mike Coolbaugh was killed last night while coaching first base for the Tulsa Drillers. The 35 year-old was was hit in the head by a line drive during the ninth inning of a game against the Arkansas Travelers. What a horrible situation.

He was teammates with Ryan Braun in Omaha last season which was Coolbaugh's last season as a player. Here's what Braun had to say about Coolbaugh: "He was a family guy. I remember his wife being around with the kids. It's hard to process it. It's such a freak occurrence."

Coolbaugh played 16 years in the minor leagues with two brief stints at the major league level. He played 39 games with Milwaukee in 2001 and 30 games with St. Louis in 2002. He was a little like a real life Crash Davis. He hit 256 home runs in the minor leagues and drove in 991 runs. He also had 1,575 hits.

I saw Coolbaugh play in Omaha last August. Here's a link to a post I wrote about the game. Unfortunately he didn't play very well that day. But in honor of Coolbaugh, here's a photo I took of the scoreboard that day that shows him in the clean up spot:

Thoughts and prayers go out to the Coolbaugh family.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

You can help support Mike's family by sending donations to:

Mike Coolbaugh Family Fund
c/o Frost National Bank
1250 N.E. Loop 410
San Antonio, TX 78209

Casey said...

My prayers go out to the family. So sorry...he was doing what many only dream about.
Peace be with you.

Lee Warren said...

Thanks for the info Derrich. I called the Frost National Bank to make sure that the fund is up and running and it is.

Spirit Bank in Tulsa is also accepting donations. Here's an address for that particular bank:

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

Anonymous said...

Went to high school with Mike and he was a wonderful person and an amazing baseball player. Prayers to his family, his wife and those precious children.

Lee Warren said...

Condolences to you anonymous. Thanks for leaving the comment about Mike.

 
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