All Sport Report

In what is being called a bizarre accident, a former MLB player and minor league coach died on Sunday, July 22, 2007. The incident happened less than a month after he had taken on coaching duties for the Tulsa Drillers, at the request of his young sons. Mike Coolbaugh was standing in the coaching box at first base when he was struck by a foul ball that was hit by Tino Sanchez in a game played by his Tulsa, Double-A team against the Arkansas Travelers.

After being hit, Coolbaugh was knocked unconscious. CPR was administered and an ambulance was called, which took him to Baptist Medical Center – North Little Rock in Little Rock, Arkansas. As the ambulance was pulling in at the hospital, Coolbaugh stopped breathing. He was officially pronounced dead at the hospital, at 9:47 PM.

The game was cancelled and deemed a full and finished game with the score 7-3 in the 9th when the incident occurred. Arkansas, who was leading at the time, was awarded the victory. The Drillers are grieving the loss of their coach and friend, so their game was postponed on Monday against the Wichita Wranglers. Coolbaugh leaves behind a wife and two young boys with a third child on the way.

Coolbaugh’s wife, Amanda, who is in shock, has said they did not want to know the sex of their soon to be born child. The two met on a blind date and have been married for over seven years. He is being hailed a great father, caring friend, and excellent coach and player from a baseball family. In his free time, he built things including a changing table and crib when one of his two sons was born and spent nights and weekends attending classes with hopes of receiving a degree in business.

Coolbaugh played 44 games in the major leagues for the St. Louis Cardinals and Milwaukee Brewers after being drafted in 1990 by the Toronto Blue Jays right out of high school. Friends from his high school days call him a reserved yet fun guy who was focused on sports and quite popular. He was the school’s homecoming king and played both football and baseball on his San Antonio based, high school team. His brother, Scott, was also playing in the majors in the 90s around the same time Mike was, only playing for the Rangers, Padres, and Cardinals.

This gave cause for Baseball big wig, Bud Selig to offer his condolences to Coolbaugh and his baseball oriented family as well as all of his friends who are mourning. The Drillers’ MLB affiliate team, the Colorado Rockies also released a statement offering their sincerest condolences at the death that has both shocked and shook their entire franchise.

Tulsa Drillers, Mike Coolbaugh, Death, Accident, MLB, Baseball, Minor League