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Round Rock Express

Visitation Offered For Coolbaugh

July 24, 2007 - Pacific Coast League (PCL1)
Round Rock Express News Release


ROUND ROCK - The life of minor league veteran and former Express standout Mike Coolbaugh will be honored on Monday, July 30 at a funeral mass in San Antonio, the same town where Coolbaugh's baseball dreams began.

Coolbaugh, who grew up in San Antonio and was drafted by the Toronto Blue Jays out of Roosevelt High School in 1990, was killed Sunday when a line drive foul ball struck him as he coached first base for the Tulsa Drillers. He was 35-years-old.

The mass will begin at 10:30 a.m. at the Holy Spirit Catholic Church located at 8134 Blanco Road. An open visitation will be held a day earlier from 4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. at Porter Loring Mortuary North located at 2102 North Loop 1604 East.

Coolbaugh leaves behind two sons, Joseph, 5, and Jacob, 3, and his wife, Amanda, who is expecting their third child in October. A collection will be taken up for the Coolbaugh family at the homeplate and right field gate entrances of The Dell Diamond prior to Round Rock's Aug. 3 game between Round Rock and Colorado Springs. In addition, there will be one final passing of the hat to remember Coolbaugh and to accept donations for his family.

All donations collected will go directly to a fund set up for the family at Spirit Bank in Tulsa, Okla. Checks can be made payable to the Mike Coolbaugh Memorial Fund and may be sent to the Mike Coolbaugh Memorial Fund, c/o Spirit Bank, 1800 S. Baltimore Ave., Tulsa, OK 74119. In addition, all fine money from the Texas League, plus an additional $1,000 for each of the league's eight teams, will go towards the fund. The Nolan Ryan Foundation and Spirit Bank have each donated $5,000 to the fund.

"It's an extremely sad tragedy," said Round Rock Express founder and C.E.O. Reid Ryan. "Mike was a veteran around baseball and befriended a lot of us. He spent two years here and made an impact on our fans and the entire Express family."

Over his 16-year career, Coolbaugh was involved in 25 transactions and played for 17 professional teams. He broke into the majors after a decade in the minor leagues, collecting 14 hits in 39 games with the 2001 Milwaukee Brewers. A true third baseman, he appeared in five games with the St. Louis Cardinals the following season before joining the Houston Astros' farm system in 2003.

Coolbaugh hit .259 with the Double-A Round Rock Express in 2003 and had a career year in 2004, batting .295 with 30 home runs for Triple-A New Orleans. In 2005, he was voted to the Triple-A All-Star game and was named the Houston Astros' Triple-A Most Valuable Player after batting .281 with 27 home runs, 30 doubles and 101 RBI. He also moved his family back to San Antonio that year to be closer to his brother, Scott Coolbaugh, who spent parts of his 11-year career as the third baseman for the Texas Rangers.

Mike Coolbaugh played for Tulsa in 1996 and had been with the team for three weeks before Sunday's tragedy.

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