Books and articles about Andy Coakley

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Coakley is best remembered as Lou Gehrig's coach at Columbia University, where he directed the baseball team, 1915-51. Years before that, he came to the Philadelphia A's from Holy Cross, a natty collegian considered the "Beau Brummel" of baseball. He won 20 games in 1905 but, in his only World Series appearance, became one of Christy Mathewson's victims when the Giants' superstar threw three shutouts against the Athletics. Columbia's baseball team currently plays at Andy Coakley Field. (JK)

FROM THE BASEBALL CHRONOLOGY » July 4, 1905: In an a.m.-p.m, doubleheader between Boston and Philadelphia, the A's take the morning game 5-2, using pitchers Eddie Plank, Andy Coakley and Rube Waddell on the mound to beat Jesse Tannehill. The afternoon contest proves a classic as Philadelphia's Rube Waddell bests Cy Young in a 20-inning marathon, when the Athletics prevail, 4-2. Boston outhits the A's, 15 to 13, but the 38-year-old Young loses on an error, hit batsman and two hits. Young walks nobody in the 20 innings, while 1B Bob Unglaub records 31 putouts. Philadelphia C Ossee Schreckengost works 28 innings in one day, a ML record. » September 26, 1905: At Philadelphia, A's starter Andy Coakley pitches seven innings and is behind 4-2 against the Tigers when he departs. The A's knot the score up with runs in the 7th and 8th, and reliever Jimmy Dygert tosses the last three innings. When Tigers score two in the 10th to win, the scorer pins the loss on Coakley for pitching badly [later revisions will give the loss to Dygert, and Coakley's record of 20-7 will be the AL's best winning percentage]. » October 5, 1905: Athletics P Chief Bender has three hits, including a triple with three on, in an 8-0 victory over Washington. He relieves Andy Coakley in the 2nd game and wins 9-7. Overall, he has two wins, six hits, and eight RBI for the day. » October 12, 1905: With two days rest, Christy Mathewson allows his first and only walk in 27 innings, in a 4-hit 9-0 romp at Baker Bowl. The Giants cook Andy Coakley for nine runs on eight hits and five walks. The A's add four errors, three by 2B Danny Murphy. The Giants now lead 2-1. » December 13, 1906: The Athletics sell P Andy Coakley to Cincinnati. A 20-game winner in 1905, he had slipped to 7–8. He will be an effective but hard-luck pitcher for the next two years before starting a 37-year career as baseball coach at Columbia University. » June 18, 1907: In a Giants win, Roger Bresnahan is hit in the head by a pitch from Andy Coakley of the Cincinnati Reds and is given the last rites while he lays on the field. Hospitalized for 10 days, he will develop a primitive headgear for batters during his convalescence. Teammate Dan McGann is also hit by a Coakley pitch in the same inning (4th), breaking his arm, and will be out of action until the 1st of August. » July 12, 1907: After an absence of 24 days, Roger Bresnahan returns to the lineup and collects two hits in a 3-2 win for the Giants against Andy Coakley, the same hurler who hit him with a pitch on June 18th. Bresnahan does not wear the headgear he developed. When a fan keeps a foul ball during the game rather than tossing it back, Giants team secretary Frank Knowles warns that "in the future he will not be so lenient about anyone stealing a ball." » May 16, 1908: Andy Coakley gives up six hits in beating the Giants in Cincinnati, 6-1. Christy Mathewson lasts just two innings and John McGraw pinch hits for him in the 3rd. » June 17, 1908: The Giants sweep two from the visiting Reds. Christy Mathewson takes the opener, 2-1, over Andy Coakley. » July 6, 1908: In Cincinnati, Christy Mathewson stops the Reds, 2–1, beating Andy Coakley for a Giants win. He'll beat them again by the same score on the 9th. The 3rd place Giants are now one 1/2 games behind the first-place Pirates. John McGraw misses the game to scout 19-year-old prospect Rube Marquard, pitching in Columbus. » August 4, 1908: The Giants take two from Cincinnati, winning 4-3 in 12 innings, and 4-1. Christy Mathewson wins both, relieving Joe McGinnity in the 9th inning of the opener and tossing nine innings in the nitecap; Andy Coakley loses both. New York moves into 2nd place, five percentage points behind the Pirates. Despite the two losses, it is a relief for the Reds to score runs. Cincy had endured four straight shutout losses: 5-0 on July 30; 3-0 on the 31st; 6-0 on the 1st and 3rd. » August 20, 1908: New York tops the Reds, 2-0, as Christy Mathewson hurls an 8-hit shutout. Reds Andy Coakley allows just four Giant safeties in the loss. For Matty, it is his 25th win. The Giants will sweep three games from the Reds, with the only negative being Fred Snodgrass sustaining a broken thumb. The rookie catcher, who played just six games, will return next year to play mostly in the outfield.