Background
Cole, Brian was born on July 25, 1978 in Manchester, Iowa, United States. Son of Jim and Carol Cole.
Cole, Brian was born on July 25, 1978 in Manchester, Iowa, United States. Son of Jim and Carol Cole.
Cole was drafted by the Detroit Tigers in the 36th round of the 1997 Major League Baseball Draft, but declined the Tigers $5,000 offer attended Navarro College. Cole was then drafted by the New York Mets in the 18th round of the 1998 Major League Baseball Draft and chose to sign.
Cole played in Minor League Baseball for the New York Mets organization from 1998 to 2000, becoming one of the top prospects in baseball. He died in a car accident at the age of 22 in 2001. He played both baseball and American football, scoring a school record 22 touchdowns as a senior.
He received numerous offers to play college football from Division 1 schools, but decided to stick with baseball. In his lone season at Navarro he hit .524 with 27 home runs, 82 runs batted in (RBI), 95 runs scored and 49 stolen bases in 60 games. He made his professional debut that season for the Kingsport Mets.
After 56 games with Kingsport, he was promoted to the Pittsfield Mets, where he played in two games. Overall, he hit .298/.315/.487 with five home runs, 36 RBI and 16 stolen bases. Cole played the 1999 season with the Capital City Bombers.
In 125 games, he hit .316/.362/.522 with 18 home runs, 71 RBI and 50 stolen bases. Prior to the 2000 season, Baseball America ranked him as the Mets fourth best prospect. He started the season with the St. Lucie Mets.
After hitting .312/.356/.528 with 15 home runs and 54 stolen bases in 91 games, he was promoted to the Double-A Binghamton Mets. He struggled early on, hitting only .136 in his first 59 bats, but rebounded to hit .350 over his next 117 at-bats. Overall, he hit .301/.347/.494 with 19 home runs, 86 RBI and 69 stolen bases.
After the season, he played for the Scottsdale Scorpions in the Arizona Fall League where he was a teammate with future MLB All-Stars Albert Pujols, Heath Bell and Ty Wigginton. Prior to the 2001 season, Cole was ranked by Baseball America as the Mets third best prospect and the 64th best in all of baseball. He was invited to spring training for the first time that season, where he impressed coaches, including Mookie Wilson.
He had been trying to re-enter the road after another car had entered his lane causing him to enter the median. Cole, who was not wearing his seat belt, was ejected from the car causing major injuries to his skull, brain, lungs and several other organs. He was taken to Jackson Memorial Hospital where he was pronounced dead a few hours later.
Member of Knights of Columbus (warden since 2004).