[3] Born in San Jose, California, Coleman graduated from Lowell High School,[4] then spent his entire playing career with the New York Yankees.

[8] In the years before his death, Coleman received numerous honors, including induction into the USMC Sports Hall of Fame,[9] for his call to duty.

He was forced to retire after the 1957 season, but he left on a good note, hitting .364 in a World Series loss against the Milwaukee Braves.

[13] Coleman appeared on the February 5, 1957 of the CBS game show To Tell the Truth as an imposter for singer Don Rondo.

His broadcasting career nearly ended that year; he was in the midst of an interview with Cookie Lavagetto when the national anthem began playing.

[19] During home games, the phrase would be accompanied by a tinsel star swinging from a fishing pole that emanated from his broadcast booth.

In 2005, he was given the Ford C. Frick Award of the National Baseball Hall of Fame for broadcasting excellence, and is one of six Frick award winners who also played in the Major Leagues (the others are Joe Garagiola, Tony Kubek, Tim McCarver, Bob Uecker and Ken Harrelson).

[26] In fall 2007, Coleman was inducted to the National Radio Hall of Fame as a sports broadcaster for his years as the play-by-play voice of the San Diego Padres.

Ted Leitner and Andy Masur replaced Coleman for most of the radio broadcasting efforts for each Padres game.

[27] As of November 2010[update], Coleman was the third-oldest active play-by-play announcer, behind only fellow Hall of Famers Felo Ramirez and Ralph Kiner.

[31] Although several Major League ballplayers flew during WWII, he was the only active member of MLB to do the deed twice, forgoing his career to fly in combat in both wars.

[35] In 2015, a sports facility at Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego was named in honor of Coleman.