MLB Players to Tell My Kids About, Vol. 1: Vince Coleman

In a column I wrote nearly a month ago, I explained the differences between the two groups of baseball stars I've been lucky enough to witness firsthand: the Ozzie Smith generation and the Mark McGwire generation.

I'd like to now begin a series in which I select an elite group of ballplayers from both generations to tell my children about.  

To be clear: I do not have any children at the moment (that I know about), and I doubt this will change in the next few years.

That said, I think it's important to plan ahead in life—particularly when it comes to baseball.

When I was a little boy, my Dad told me about Mickey Mantle, Willie Mays, and a whole host of other players he watched as a kid.  Hearing about these legends at a young age gave me a true appreciation for the game of baseball, and for what it meant to so many people in America.

In selecting these players, I hope to help my children develop a similar interest in the history of the sport, and the pure beauty of baseball as a game.

And if they don't?

"As long as you're living under my roof, you're going to abide by my rules!  Now sit down, shut up, and watch volume one of Ken Burns' Baseball.  There will be a quiz afterwards."

In all seriousness, my truest hope in writing this column is to set out a gameplan for educating my children not only about baseball, but about life as well.

My father talked with me at length about both, but never tied the two together.  It's my opinion that this was an extreme oversight, as there's no better opportunity to give your kid a quick life lesson than by telling the story of a relevant baseball player.

For instance, take Vince Coleman.

Vince Coleman was the fastest ballplayer I ever saw.  In fact, I'm willing to bet he was quicker on the basepaths than anyone to ever play the game.

I don't know for a fact that the statement I just made is true.  I wouldn't swear on my mother's grave that it was.  I could just be plain old wrong—like Karl Marx, or Neville Chamberlain, or the guy who invented Laser Discs.  

But if I were a gambling man and I went to Vegas with the deed to my house and one shot at breaking the bank, I'd bet that Vince Coleman was faster than anyone in the history of Major League Baseball.

Anybody who saw the man play knows what I'm talking about.

Consider this: In 1986, Vince Coleman stole 107 bases and was caught 14 times.  That's a success rate of 88.4 percent.

That same season, he hit .232 with a .301 OBP.  He reached base 199 times.

When Coleman reached base in 1986, in other words, he attempted to steal 61 percent of the time, and was successful 54 percent of the time.  Hence, half of Coleman's "singles" (or walks) were really "doubles"!

You can keep Rickey Henderson and Ty Cobb and Maury Wills; you can fumble balls in the outfield with

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