Frank Colman - With The 1947 Yankees

With The 1947 Yankees

In addition to Berra, Colman's teammates on the legendary 1947 Yankees included Joe DiMaggio, Phil Rizzuto, Allie Reynolds, Johnny Lindell, Charlie Keller, Tommy Henrich, Ralph Houk and Joe Page.

Colman and Yogi Berra were teammates with the minor-league Newark, New York, Bears in 1946 and both were called up to the Yankees.

In 1947, Colman opened the season as the starting right fielder with the Yankees but suffered a leg injury and underwent season-ending surgery. That would be his last season in the big leagues, although Colman did play two more seasons in 1949 and 1950 in the Pacific Coast League with Seattle where he batted .319 with 18 HRs and 98 RBIs in 1949 and batted .310 in 1950.

What had to be disappointing for Colman was being a non-roster player for the Yankees when they defeated the Brooklyn Dodgers in seven games for the 1947 World Series championship.

Nevertheless, Colman was part of the World Series scene. The only other Londoner to experience the World Series was the outstanding Iron Man catcher George Gibson in 1909 when Gibson's Pittsburgh Pirates defeated the Detroit Tigers starring Ty Cobb in the best-of-nine final series, five games to two.

Nineteen-forty-seven was a benchmark for Major League Baseball if there ever was one. Brooklyn Dodgers manager Leo Durocher was suspended for the year even before the season opened for "conduct detrimental to baseball". The doors were finally opened to the black athlete as an infielder by the name of Jackie Robinson was plucked from the Montreal Royals to lead the Brooklyn Dodgers into one of the most memorable World Series of all time.

Colman finished his six-year major league career with 571 at-bats, 15 home runs and 106 RBIs in 271 games for a career average of .228.