Mike McCormick (outfielder)

For other people with the same name, see Mike McCormick (disambiguation).

Mike McCormick
Outfielder
Born: (1917-05-06)May 6, 1917
Angels Camp, California, U.S.
Died: April 13, 1976(1976-04-13) (aged 58)
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Batted: Right
Threw: Right
MLB debut
April 16, 1940, for the Cincinnati Reds
Last MLB appearance
September 30, 1951, for the Washington Senators
MLB statistics
Batting average.275
Home runs14
Runs batted in215
Stats at Baseball Reference Edit this at Wikidata
Teams
Career highlights and awards

Myron Winthrop "Mike" McCormick (May 6, 1917 – April 13, 1976) was an American professional baseball player. He was an outfielder for the Cincinnati Reds (1940–43 and 1946), Boston Braves (1946–48), Brooklyn Dodgers (1949), New York Giants (1950), Chicago White Sox (1950) and Washington Senators (1951) of Major League Baseball.

Biography

McCormick in 1943

McCormick was born in Angels Camp, California, stood 6 feet (180 cm) tall, weighed 190 pounds (86 kg), and threw and batted right-handed.

He helped the Reds win the 1940 World Series, and led the National League in sacrifice hits that season. Forty games into the 1942 season, McCormick was sidelined with a broken leg. He returned to the Reds for the 1943 season, but he was inducted into the military after only a few games. He missed the 1944 and 1945 seasons due to military service. He served in the Army Air Force and played on a military baseball team with Joe DiMaggio in Hawaii.[1]

After the Braves won the 1948 National League pennant, he was traded from the Braves to the Brooklyn Dodgers in December of that year; he and an unnamed player were sent to Brooklyn in exchange for Pete Reiser.[2] The Dodgers won the 1949 NL pennant. The next year, he was signed by the New York Giants, played for Oakland of the Pacific Coast League, and had his contract purchased by the Chicago White Sox that June.[3][4]

In 10 seasons he played in 748 games and had 2,325 at bats, 302 runs, 640 hits, 100 doubles, 29 triples, 14 home runs, 215 RBI, 16 stolen bases, 188 walks, .275 batting average, .330 on-base percentage, .361 slugging percentage, 840 total bases and 72 sacrifice hits. Defensively, he recorded a .980 fielding percentage at all three outfield positions.

In April 1976, McCormick was attending a game at Dodger Stadium when he suffered a heart attack. He died at a Los Angeles hospital.[5]

References

  1. ^ "Baseball in Wartime - Mike McCormick". www.baseballinwartime.com. Retrieved September 10, 2016.
  2. ^ "Flock sends Reiser to Braves in trade for McCormick". The Cornell Daily Sun. Associated Press. December 16, 1948. Retrieved September 10, 2016.
  3. ^ "Giants sign Mike McCormick; fans see good luck". Argus-Press. January 5, 1950. Retrieved September 10, 2016.
  4. ^ "White Sox buy Mike McCormick". St. Petersburg Times. June 30, 1950. Retrieved September 10, 2016.
  5. ^ Lee, Bill (2003). The Baseball Necrology: The Post-Baseball Lives and Deaths of More Than 7,600 Major League Players and Others. McFarland. p. 260. ISBN 9780786442393.