1938
Born September 29, 1938
Pasadena, CA, USA
Mike McCormick Marquee
b. September 29, 1938 · New York Giants 1956–1957, San Francisco Giants 1958–1962, 1967–1970, Baltimore Orioles 1963–1964, Washington Senators 1965–1966, New York Yankees 1970, Kansas City Royals 1971
The Giants signed him out of a Los Angeles high school in 1956 for a bonus that obliged them to keep him on the major-league roster, and he pitched in the National League at seventeen. He led the league in earned run average in 1960, at twenty-one, with a 2.70.
A shoulder injury took the next five years — Baltimore and Washington got a pitcher who could not throw hard — and San Francisco reacquired him in 1967. He went 22-10 with a 2.85 earned run average and won the Cy Young Award with 18 of the 20 votes, the first Giant to win it.
Sixteen seasons gave him 134 wins against 128, a 3.73 earned run average, 2,380 innings and 23 shutouts. In 1959 he pitched a five-inning no-hitter that rain ended, which the record books counted and later did not. No Hall of Fame ballot has listed him. He died in 2020, at eighty-one.
Honors
| Award | Times | Years |
|---|---|---|
| All-Star selection | 2 | 1960, 1961 |
| Cy Young Award | 1 | 1967 |
| The Sporting News All-Star | 1 | 1967 |
| The Sporting News Comeback Player of the Year | 1 | 1967 |
| The Sporting News Pitcher of the Year | 1 | 1967 |
Batting, season by season
| Year | Team | G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | SB | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1956 | NYG | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| 1957 | NYG | 24 | 22 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 8 | 0 | .273 |
| 1958 | SFG | 42 | 54 | 4 | 12 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 21 | 0 | .222 |
| 1959 | SFG | 47 | 66 | 3 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 22 | 0 | .106 |
| 1960 | SFG | 40 | 88 | 4 | 16 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 35 | 0 | .182 |
| 1961 | SFG | 40 | 80 | 3 | 15 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 25 | 0 | .188 |
| 1962 | SFG | 29 | 28 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 11 | 0 | .107 |
| 1963 | BAL | 25 | 46 | 5 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 16 | 0 | .174 |
| 1964 | BAL | 4 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | .167 |
| 1965 | WSA | 45 | 41 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 15 | 0 | .073 |
| 1966 | WSA | 41 | 66 | 5 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 3 | 23 | 0 | .212 |
| 1967 | SFG | 41 | 84 | 8 | 10 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 4 | 32 | 0 | .119 |
| 1968 | SFG | 38 | 58 | 4 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 6 | 25 | 0 | .103 |
| 1969 | SFG | 32 | 66 | 6 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 31 | 0 | .136 |
| 1970 | NYY/SFG | 32 | 30 | 6 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 9 | 0 | .167 |
| 1971 | KCR | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| Career | — | 487 | 738 | 54 | 115 | 12 | 1 | 7 | 39 | 40 | 275 | 0 | .156 |
Pitching, season by season
| Year | Team | W | L | G | GS | SV | IP | H | ER | BB | SO | ERA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1956 | NYG | 0 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 6.2 | 7 | 7 | 10 | 4 | 9.45 |
| 1957 | NYG | 3 | 1 | 24 | 5 | 0 | 74.2 | 79 | 34 | 32 | 50 | 4.10 |
| 1958 | SFG | 11 | 8 | 42 | 28 | 1 | 178.1 | 192 | 91 | 60 | 82 | 4.59 |
| 1959 | SFG | 12 | 16 | 47 | 31 | 4 | 225.2 | 213 | 100 | 86 | 151 | 3.99 |
| 1960 | SFG | 15 | 12 | 40 | 34 | 3 | 253.0 | 228 | 76 | 65 | 154 | 2.70 |
| 1961 | SFG | 13 | 16 | 40 | 35 | 0 | 250.0 | 235 | 89 | 75 | 163 | 3.20 |
| 1962 | SFG | 5 | 5 | 28 | 15 | 0 | 98.2 | 112 | 59 | 45 | 42 | 5.38 |
| 1963 | BAL | 6 | 8 | 25 | 21 | 0 | 136.0 | 132 | 65 | 66 | 75 | 4.30 |
| 1964 | BAL | 0 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 17.1 | 21 | 10 | 8 | 13 | 5.19 |
| 1965 | WSA | 8 | 8 | 44 | 21 | 1 | 158.0 | 158 | 59 | 36 | 88 | 3.36 |
| 1966 | WSA | 11 | 14 | 41 | 32 | 0 | 216.0 | 193 | 83 | 51 | 101 | 3.46 |
| 1967 | SFG | 22 | 10 | 40 | 35 | 0 | 262.1 | 220 | 83 | 81 | 150 | 2.85 |
| 1968 | SFG | 12 | 14 | 38 | 28 | 1 | 198.1 | 196 | 79 | 49 | 121 | 3.58 |
| 1969 | SFG | 11 | 9 | 32 | 28 | 0 | 196.2 | 175 | 73 | 77 | 76 | 3.34 |
| 1970 | NYY/SFG | 5 | 4 | 32 | 15 | 2 | 99.0 | 106 | 68 | 49 | 49 | 6.18 |
| 1971 | KCR | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 9.2 | 14 | 10 | 5 | 2 | 9.31 |
| Career | — | 134 | 128 | 484 | 333 | 12 | 2380.1 | 2281 | 986 | 795 | 1321 | 3.73 |
On this day & linked events
2020
Died June 13, 2020
1956
Major-league debut: Mike McCormick
Mike McCormick made a major-league debut on September 3, 1956.
1971
Final major-league game: Mike McCormick
Mike McCormick played a final major-league game on May 22, 1971.
Image: Unknown author Unknown, public domain