{{short description|American baseball player (born 1959)}} {{Use mdy dates|date=July 2024}} {{Infobox baseball biography |name=Mike Jeffcoat |position=Pitcher<!--major-league role(s) only here--> |image=Mike Jeffcoat (48415303542) (cropped).jpg |caption=Jeffcoat with the Cleburne Railroaders in 2019 |team= |number= |bats=Left |throws=Left |birth_date={{Birth date and age|1959|8|3}} |birth_place=Pine Bluff, Arkansas, U.S. |debutleague = MLB |debutdate=August 21 |debutyear=1983 |debutteam=Cleveland Indians |finalleague = MLB |finaldate=June 24 |finalyear=1994 |finalteam=Florida Marlins |statleague = MLB |stat1label=Win–loss record |stat1value=25–26 |stat2label=Earned run average |stat2value=4.37 |stat3label=Strikeouts |stat3value=242 |teams= * Cleveland Indians ({{mlby|1983}}–{{mlby|1985}}) * San Francisco Giants ({{mlby|1985}}) * Texas Rangers ({{mlby|1987}}–{{mlby|1992}}) * Florida Marlins ({{mlby|1994}}) }} '''James Michael Jeffcoat''' (born August 3, 1959) is an American retired professional baseball manager, former head coach in college baseball, and former professional player. He pitched in Major League Baseball (MLB) between 1983 and 1994 for four different teams.
==Playing career== Jeffcoat was first selected in the 1977 MLB draft by the St. Louis Cardinals, but did not sign. He played college baseball for Louisiana Tech. He was selected in the 1980 MLB draft by the Cleveland Indians, whom he signed with.<ref name=retro>{{cite web |url=https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/J/Pjeffm001.htm |title=Mike Jeffcoat |website=Retrosheet |accessdate=April 10, 2023}}</ref>
Jeffcoat's professional playing career began in 1980 and ended in 1994, doing which he pitched in 283 games in Minor League Baseball, compiling an 85–59 win–loss record.<ref name=brm>{{cite news |url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/player.fcgi?id=jeffco001jam |title=Mike Jeffcoat Minor & Independent Leagues Statistics |website=Baseball-Reference.com |accessdate=April 10, 2023}}</ref> At the Triple-A level, he had a 58–36 record with 3.91 earned run average (ERA) in 215 games (97 starts).<ref name=brm/>
Jeffcoat pitched in 255 major-league games during parts of 10 seasons.<ref name=br>{{cite web |url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/j/jeffcmi01.shtml |title=Mike Jeffcoat Stats |website=Baseball-Reference.com |accessdate=April 10, 2023}}</ref> He primarily pitched for the Texas Rangers, pitching 149 games (41 starts) for them during 1987–1992.<ref name=br/> He pitched to an overall MLB record of 25–26 with a 4.37 ERA, three complete games, and seven saves.<ref name=br/>
==Coaching career== Jeffcoat was the head coach of Texas Wesleyan University from 2002 to 2018. He was terminated in early 2018 following publication of an email in which he stated that he didn't recruit players from the state of Colorado, due to Colorado's marijuana laws, as such players "have had trouble passing our drug test" while also stating "thank your liberal politicians."<ref name=term/> The university terminated Jeffcoat for "derogatory remarks".<ref name=term>{{Cite news|url=http://www.wfaa.com/article/sports/texas-wesleyan-coach-fired-after-refusing-to-recruit-colorado-player-over-weed-laws/287-524279928|title=Texas Wesleyan coach fired after refusing to recruit Colorado player over weed laws|work=WFAA|access-date=2018-03-01|language=en-US}}</ref>
On December 17, 2020, Jeffcoat was hired to be the manager of the Cleburne Railroaders of the American Association of Independent Professional Baseball. On June 30, 2021, he retired as manager of the team.<ref>{{cite tweet|number=1410342427030962181|user=CRRBaseball|title=Manager Mike Jeffcoat has elected to retire. |date=30 June 2021}}</ref>
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== {{baseballstats |br=j/jeffcmi01 |brm=jeffco001jam |retro=J/Pjeffm001}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jeffcoat, Mike}} Category:1959 births Category:Living people Category:American expatriate baseball players in Canada Category:Baseball players from Pine Bluff, Arkansas Category:Batavia Trojans players Category:Charleston Charlies players Category:Chattanooga Lookouts players Category:Cleveland Indians players Category:Edmonton Trappers players Category:Florida Marlins players Category:Louisiana Tech Bulldogs baseball players Category:Major League Baseball pitchers Category:Oklahoma City 89ers players Category:Omaha Royals players Category:Phoenix Firebirds players Category:Phoenix Giants players Category:San Francisco Giants players Category:Texas Rangers players Category:Waterloo Indians players Category:20th-century American sportsmen