Casey Coleman

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Casey Coleman
Born March 24, 1951(1951-03-24)
Cleveland, Ohio
Died November 27, 2006 (aged 55)
Cleveland, Ohio
Occupation sports broadcaster
Parents Ken Coleman

Casey Coleman ( born Kenneth R. Coleman Jr. on March 24, 1951 – died November 27, 2006 in Cleveland, Ohio), was a sportscaster in the Cleveland area for nearly 30 years. His broadcasting career began in Boston on the radio. In 1978 Coleman came to Cleveland and commentated Indians games, and hosted a radio show, ending each broadcast by saying, "I'm rounding third and heading home."[1] In the 1980s and 1990s, Coleman worked for WJW television as the main sports anchor. He was awarded four Cleveland Emmy Awards while at WJW.

Coleman joined WTAM 1100-AM in July 1997, and became a part of the morning talk show "Wills, Webster and Coleman in the Morning" in October of 1998. (The show's name was shortened to "Wills and Coleman" in 2001.)

Coleman was the son of legendary play-by-play announcer Ken Coleman, who called Cleveland Browns games in the 1950s and '60s and was the voice of the Red Sox for a generation. Ken Coleman died in 2003, three years after being inducted into the Boston Red Sox Hall of Fame.

In 1995 Coleman began co-hosting "Countdown to 99" a weekly sports wrap-up / NFL coverage and commentary show that aired on Sunday Mornings on WEWS-TV Channel 5, Cleveland's ABC-TV affiliate, with former Cleveland Browns wide receiver Reggie Rucker.

On October 11, 2006, the Browns dedicated their practice facility in Berea, Ohio as the "The Casey Coleman Field House". Coleman, who had been a water boy for the original Browns when his dad served as the team's radio voice, was the team's final play-by-play voice (1994 – 1995) before Art Modell moved the Browns to Baltimore (to become the Baltimore Ravens) in 1996.

After the Cleveland Browns returned to the NFL in 1999, Coleman served as a radio sideline reporter for WMJI (later WMMS) and WTAM's coverage of the team's games until 2005, when he began showing signs of the illness that preceded his death and was replaced by Andre Knott.

Coleman was inducted into the Cleveland Journalism Hall of Fame in 2006.

On September 26, 2006, Cleveland mayor Frank G. Jackson declared that September 26 would be "Casey Coleman Day."[2]

Coleman died on November 27, 2006 after a 14-month struggle with pancreatic cancer. His death was reported by his co-host, Bill Wills, on WTAM's "Wills and Coleman in the Morning" show the morning of his death.

[edit] References

  1. ^ "Longtime Cleveland broadcaster Casey Coleman dies at 55", Associated Press Sports, 2006-11-27. Retrieved on 2006-11-28. 
  2. ^ "It Is Casey Coleman Day", NewsNet5, 2006-09-26. Retrieved on 2006-11-28. 
Persondata
NAME Coleman, Casey
ALTERNATIVE NAMES
SHORT DESCRIPTION Cleveland and Boston sportscaster; known for the line "I'm rounding third and heading home."
DATE OF BIRTH March 24, 1951
PLACE OF BIRTH
DATE OF DEATH November 27, 2006
PLACE OF DEATH