Vince Coleman joined the St. Louis Cardinals at a moment when the franchise was trying to revive the high-speed identity it had shaped under Whitey Herzog. Coleman had been a college football kicker at Florida A&M before turning fully to baseball, and the Cardinals saw in him the purest kind of baserunning weapon. He rewarded that belief immediately. In 1985 he stole 110 bases, the most by a rookie in league history, and the local press treated him as the new engine of the team’s small-ball attack.

His value went beyond the stolen bases. Coleman forced pitchers to speed up their work and infielders to play in uncomfortable spots. That pressure helped shape the Cardinals’ offensive style during multiple postseason runs, including their 1985 and 1987 National League pennants. Coaches often pointed out how quickly he read pitchers, and how much his confidence set the tone for the rest of the lineup.

His time in St. Louis had its flaws, including stretches of inconsistency and the occasional run-in with the media, but his impact on the field was unmistakable. Coleman kept alive a brand of Cardinals baseball that relied on movement, instinct, and the threat of chaos every time he reached first base.