Mike Coolbaugh (1972-2007) ---- Rest in Peace

by malakian on Jul 23, 2007 12:04 AM MDT in Rockpile Comment 17 comments

Tulsa Drillers' first base coach Mike Coolbaugh dies after being hit by foul ball

From the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette:

The first base coach of the Tulsa Drillers died after being struck by a foul ball during a game at Dickey-Stephens Park on Sunday night, officials confirmed.

Mike Coolbaugh was hit in the side of the head during in the top of ninth inning with Drillers player Tino Sanchez at bat. Coolbaugh collapsed to the ground and lay there motionless as medical personnel and team members came to his side. Cardiopulmonary resuscitation was performed on the field.

Coolbaugh, 35, then was transported to Baptist Health Medical Center in North Little Rock. He was pronounced dead a short time later, according to Sgt. Terry Kuykendall, spokesman for the North Little Rock Police Department.

According to the Tulsa Drillers Web site, Coolbaugh joined the team on July 3.
The game was suspended with the Arkansas Travelers leading 7-3 with no outs in the ninth inning.

Very sad. I had the pleasure of meeting Coolbaugh a few years ago. He was very personable and friendly from what I remember. Coolbaugh had spent the last 17 years involved in professional baseball as both a player and a coach. Coolbaugh is survived by his wife, Mandy, and two young sons, Joseph and Jacob. Mandy Coolbaugh is expecting another child in October.

Update [2007-7-23 4:15:53 by malakian]:

More details from MinorLeagueBaseball.com

Update [2007-7-23 15:29:29 by Russ]: The Rockies have issued a statement, and a memorial fund has been set up in his memory. For those who want to donate:

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

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That's terrible.

Such a tragedy.

My thoughts are with Mike Coolbaugh's family, the Drillers, and the entire Rockies organization.

by Knepster on Jul 23, 2007 12:33 AM MDT reply actions 0 recs

Especially Tino Sanchez

Imagine what he's feeling right now.

by malakian on Jul 23, 2007 12:39 AM MDT up reply actions 0 recs

No kidding.

He must be a wreck.

by Knepster on Jul 23, 2007 1:02 PM MDT up reply actions 0 recs

Nothing you can do

There isn't anything that can be said to comfort Tino Sanchez right now.

When I was 10 we were playing baseball at school and the pitcher was hit with a line drive by one of the better athletes in our class and it stopped his heart and he died. We got crisis counseling and everything and everyone from parents to teachers to doctors were involved trying to help the batter get through the trauma but he never did get over it. :(

My thoughts and prayers go out to all of those who are impacted by this traumatic event.

by MADness on Jul 23, 2007 2:55 PM MDT up reply actions 0 recs

Might have come off wrong

I didn't mean to imply that nothing should be done to attempt to help Tino and the other players because they are going to need as much help as they can get.

What I was attempting to convey is that having witnessed a death like this the level of shock and emotion and guilt that the batter is likely to be dealing with is beyond comprehension (even to the other people involved in the tragic incident).

Times like these are when the organization and the community have an opportunity to reach out and help people on a much deeper level than is normally expected from them.

by MADness on Jul 23, 2007 3:00 PM MDT up reply actions 0 recs

RIP

What awful news. I'm speechless.

mvn.com/mlb-rockies - Staying on the sunny side of Blake Street since 1993.

by Franchise26 on Jul 23, 2007 12:55 AM MDT reply actions 0 recs

On behalf of the D'backs fans

I wish to express sympathy at the loss.

My thoughts are with his friends and family at this tragic time.

by AZDarkKnight on Jul 23, 2007 2:26 AM MDT reply actions 0 recs

This jolts things into perspective

The game certainly pales to obscurity when confronted by tragedies like this. My thoughts and well wishes go out to Mandy and the children and Tino Sanchez in particular, but also to everybody else close to Mike.

Rest in peace, Mike.

by Rox Girl on Jul 23, 2007 5:58 AM MDT reply actions 0 recs

Such a jolt...................such a tragedy

The deepest sympathies go to the family and friends of Mike; he had just joined the organization and now this. It is hard to imagine America's favorite sport as potentially lethal. I hope someone from the Rockies' organization will help or make help available to Tino Sanchez who must be in agony. One of the articles mentioned that this is the second member of the Rockies' organization to be harmed by a line drive to the head this season. Is that true of any other team? Does the hour of play become a factor? Was a helmet worn by Mike? Some time back one of the Dodger coaches took a hard line drive, I believe it was Glen Hoffman, and the Dodgers actually stopped playing any more games during the hours the sun was so bad, around 5 to 6 ish except when forced to by the Sunday ESPN game. Maybe this is something that needs to be considered in the future in Arkansas. This tragedy is horrific..............what happened to Jon Asahina was frightening.............a next incident needs to be avoided.

by lahardball on Jul 23, 2007 7:56 AM MDT reply actions 0 recs

There will probably

some serious discussions on having base coaches wear helmets now.

"Don't give up the ship!" - Capt. James Lawrence

by Russ Oates on Jul 23, 2007 7:58 AM MDT up reply actions 0 recs

I mentioned this

in the game thread tonight, but Glenallen Hill was wearing a helmet tonight. Gallego wasn't, and neither were the Padres' coaches.

by Knepster on Jul 24, 2007 12:45 AM MDT up reply actions 0 recs

Shouldn't be an option

These issues (safety issues) are the issues that a league needs to step in and be heavy-handed about. It typically hate any sort of totalitarian rule or anything that smells of a power trip but especially in the case of professional athletes (current or former) they are not likely to want to show fear or recognize thier own peril so it is up to the league to force compliance and thus let them avoid any macho posturing that might get them hurt.

If you don't give them an option then they won't be tempted to try and be tough guys.

This is one of the most significant ways in which the NHL has failed, IMO.

by MADness on Jul 24, 2007 3:22 PM MDT up reply actions 0 recs

Dang..

Hard to read that story.

Sympathies from RoxHead to his family and friends.

by roxhead on Jul 23, 2007 9:55 AM MDT reply actions 0 recs

I"m SICK AND THE ONLY, VERY SLIGHTEST

consolation 1s that MLB has a way to take care of their own when tragedy strikes; that is support of his family in every way.

by 86 wins in 07 on Jul 23, 2007 10:04 AM MDT reply actions 0 recs

I remember when Mike

played for the Drillers in the 90's (nobody can forget the fun the PA had with his name), and he's been a very well liked individual in Tulsa since those days.

This is a sad loss for baseball and most importantly, the Coolbaugh family. Thoughts and prayers go out to Mike's family and friends.

by David OhNo on Jul 23, 2007 3:32 PM MDT reply actions 0 recs

Visitor from Gaslamp Ball

I extend my sympathy to the Coolbaugh family and the Rockies organization. I am shocked and saddened by the news.

I am a Padres fan, but decided to make this contribution over here at Purple Row. I had the honor of being around Mike Coolbaugh during the 2001 season when I worked on a documentary called "A Player to Be Named Later." We did not feature Mike in the doc, but we were aware of the fact that he played 12 seasons in the minors when he was finally called up by Milwaukee (he was playing for their AAA affiliate in Indianapolis at the time). He had a very serious demeanor in the clubhouse, but outside the clubhouse, he was an extraordinarily nice guy.

Mike truly cherished the fact that he was still playing playing baseball, even at the minor league level. Needless to say, the news of getting called up was biggest moment in his professional life. Sadly, we missed the road trip when he got the call (4 games in North Carolina sandwiched by home games in Indy with no off-days...it was not economically feasible for us to drive to Charlotte and Durham). Mark Sweeney, also playing for Indy at the time, told us Mike handled the news as anyone in his situation would have handled it -- he cried.

I remember being in the Indy clubhouse watching the Brewers playing the White Sox with the director and the cameraman and about 6 other Indy players. In his second big-league game (he got a single in his first career at-bat the night before), Mike hit his first major league home run. In a testament to how well liked his was, those players who were watching, openly cheered when that ball when over the wall.

When we ran into him in Milwaukee (at a Denny's, having lunch with his wife, Mandy). He told us the story that when he got the call, he couldn't reach his wife, his parents, or his brother, and boarded the plane to the bigs having yet to share the moment with any of his loved ones. He also let us listen to the emotional voicemail message he left on his wife's phone after he got the news. Heck, he let us record it in case we used it in the movie (we didn't).

For a guy whom we thought resented us for being in the clubhouse and in the dugout, we couldn't have been more wrong. Mike Coolbaugh was a solid professional, and more importantly, a decent human being. Here's the article from the Milwaukee paper about his call-up. Reading it makes what happened all the more tragic.

Rest in peace, Mike.

by Pants on Jul 23, 2007 3:33 PM MDT reply actions 0 recs