Runnin' With The Racers Podcast - Steve Coulson - Murray State University Athletics

Former Murray State hall of famer and former baseball student-athlete Steve Coulson is our guest on the Runnin' with the Racers Podcast, episode 122.

The Runnin' with the Racers Podcast posts each week to GoRacers.com, iTunes and Soundcloud.

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Coulson played for Murray State legend, Coach Johnny Reagan, who guided the program for 36 years (1958-93) and won 776 games. Coulson agrees, the influence of Reagan on his own coaching and teaching career of 27 years at Fulton County High School in Hickman, Kentucky cannot be overstated.

"I patterned my philosophy and the way I carried myself as a coach the way he did," Coulson said. "However, his demeanor was such that I don't think anyone could copy it. His demeanor was that 'I'm in charge, I know what I'm doing' and everyone agreed. Coach Reagan had such an aura about him, all he had to do was walk onto the field and everyone just paid attention. He had a wonderful dry sense of humor, one of his sayings was 'if you want to play college baseball, you actually have to go to college!' he took academics very seriously."

Coulson out of Fisk, Missouri and played two seasons of baseball at Three Rivers Junior College in Poplar Bluff. Recruited by Reagan, Coulson was an immediate star for coach Johnny Reagan in two seasons of Steve Coulson

1972-73. Coulson threw right, batted left, had great speed and could play third base, second base and outfield. He finished his career with a .345 batting average (top-10 at MSU when he graduated), nine triples, nine home runs, 56 RBI and 17 stolen bases. He was selected team MVP and All-Ohio Valley Conference as a senior in 1973.

As a team, MSU had two winning seasons with Coulson in the lineup with a combined 55 victories, but never won that elusive OVC championship. In fact, the 1972 OVC season was never played. Different graduation dates for the Kentucky OVC schools from the schools in Tennessee was to blame.

Steve Coulson's skill set appealed to the big leagues. Not quite a five-tool player (He didn't hit for a lot of power) Coulson's arm strength, speed, hitting for average and fielding talent were all high level. Coulson was selected by the New York Yankees in the seventh round (#157 overall) of the 1973 MLB Amateur Draft. When the call came, Coulson was in the Jayhawk Collegiate League playing for the Liberal (KS) Bee Jays.

"I've got a picture someplace of me signing a contract with the Yankees scout that watched me," Coulson remembered. "I signed and became a Yankee, but I do remember some haggling over my bonus."

Coulson didn't have an agent speaking on his behalf, so he had to make the best decision possible.

"I started at $10,000, they started at $5,000 and we met somewhere in the middle. When the New York Yankees are going to give you money to play baseball, all I really wanted to do was just play baseball. We agreed that would be fine and I signed."

Murray State has produced 29 players drafted by Major League Baseball since 1965 and only seven drafted in the single-digit rounds 1-9, one of those is Coulson. In 1973, Coulson was drafted in the same class that produced Baseball Hall of Fame players Robin Yount by the Brewers, Dave Winfield by the Padres and Eddie Murray by the Orioles.

Coulson ended up playing five minor league seasons, mostly with the West Haven A's of the AA Eastern League. In 528 games and more than 2,200 at bats, Coulson produced a career .285 batting average with 565 hits (104 extra base hits) with 67 stolen bases. His career OPS was .720. His talent level spoke to him arriving in the big leagues at some point, the only question was when? The Yankees already had six-time all-star Graig Nettles solidly entrenched at third base, so they asked Coulson to learn to play second base. Finally, after the 1976 season done and five pro seasons to his name, Coulson made the decision to get on with his life. It's not lost on Coulson on how close he might've come to playing in The Show.

"There I was in Syracuse and I was only 22 years old," Coulson said. "The entire problem was they couldn't find a position for me to play in their organization. They even tried me at shortstop and I wasn't very good at second base. But I was a third baseman who doesn't hit for a lot of power. It was the position they had open, I just couldn't fill. I said trade me, or release me. I'm not going to stay here and play 10 years in the minor leagues. I didn't have any options, but I was blessed to have had that opportunity. But I had to go make a living."

So Steve and his wife, Carol, both Murray State grads settled in Hickman, where each are retired now from the Fulton County school system. Steve served 27 years as a teacher and he also coached the Pilots' baseball team.

"I'm really proud of Murray State, I'm proud of their athletics, I'm proud of all of it," Coulson said. "There is nothing like of being with a group of men your own age, on a team at a college that you love going to. Murray State is a big part of me and what I learned. I had great teachers and great people on my team and all of it will live with me until I am gone."

Steve Coulson was inducted into the class of 1991 to the Murray State Hall of Fame. There are 18 men from the MSU baseball program in the MSU Hall of Fame.

Murray State University Athletics

Runnin' With The Racers Podcast - Steve Coulson

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