William Glenn McCahan (June 7, 1921 – July 3, 1986) was an American

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in baseball league, leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Mod ...

player Player may refer to: Role or adjective * Player (game), a participant in a game or sport ** Gamer, a player in video and tabletop games ** Athlete, a player in sports ** Player character, a character in a video game or role playing game who ...

and right-handed

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

in the Major Leagues with the

Philadelphia Athletics The Philadelphia Athletics were a Major League Baseball team that played in Philadelphia from 1901 to 1954, when they moved to Kansas City, Missouri, and became the Kansas City Athletics. Following another move in 1967, the team became the Oaklan ...

from to . Born in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

, he was listed as tall and . He graduated from

Duke University Duke University is a private research university in Durham, North Carolina. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day city of Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1892. In 1924, tobacco and electric power industrialist James ...

and served in the

United States Army Air Forces The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, attaining the rank of

second lieutenant Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces, comparable to NATO OF-1 rank. Australia The rank of second lieutenant existed in the military forces of the Australian colonies and Australian Army until ...

and earning his

pilot's wings An aviator badge is an insignia used in most of the world's militaries to designate those who have received training and qualification in military aviation. Also known as a Pilot's Badge, or Pilot Wings, the Aviator Badge was first conceived to re ...

. McCahan also played professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

for the

Syracuse Nationals The Philadelphia 76ers are an American basketball team currently playing in the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference in the National Basketball Association (NBA). The 76ers are third in NBA history in wins and playoff appearances. 1946– ...

of the National Basketball League.

Early baseball career

McCahan had begun his professional baseball career in 1942 with the Class B

Wilmington Blue Rocks The Wilmington Blue Rocks are a Minor League Baseball team of the South Atlantic League and the High-A affiliate of the Washington Nationals. They are located in Wilmington, Delaware, and play their home games at Daniel S. Frawley Stadium. ...

before entering the military. He resumed it in 1946 with the Triple-A

Toronto Maple Leafs The Toronto Maple Leafs (officially the Toronto Maple Leaf Hockey Club and often referred to as the Leafs) are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Div ...

of the

International League The International League (IL) is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the United States. Along with the Pacific Coast League, it is one of two leagues playing at the Triple-A level, which is one grade below Major League Baseball ...

, winning 11 of 18 decisions with a solid 2.76

earned run average In baseball statistics, earned run average (ERA) is the average of earned runs allowed by a pitcher per nine innings pitched (i.e. the traditional length of a game). It is determined by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the number ...

, and earning a late-season callup to the Athletics. In his first

MLB Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

game, on September 15, 1946, he

shut out Shut Out may refer to: * Shutout, a game in which one team prevents the opposing team from scoring * ''Shut Out'' (album), a 1977 album by Paul Jabara * "Shut Out" (song), a 1977 song by Paul Jabara and Donna Summer * "Shutout", a song by The Walk ...

the

Cleveland Indians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. Since , they have played at Progressive F ...

2–0, allowing seven hits and three

bases on balls A base on balls (BB), also known as a walk, occurs in baseball when a batter receives four pitches that the umpire calls '' balls'', and is in turn awarded first base without the possibility of being called out. The base on balls is defined in Se ...

. In his final start of the year, on September 29 at

Shibe Park Shibe Park, known later as Connie Mack Stadium, was a ballpark located in Philadelphia. It was the home of the Philadelphia Athletics of the American League (AL) and the Philadelphia Phillies of the National League (NL). When it opened April 12, 1 ...

, McCahan went seven

innings An innings is one of the divisions of a cricket match during which one team takes its turn to bat. Innings also means the period in which an individual player bats (acts as either striker or nonstriker). Innings, in cricket, and rounders, is bot ...

against the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Amer ...

and allowed only two runs (both earned), but the game was ended prematurely with the Athletics trailing 2–1 by a city

curfew A curfew is a government order specifying a time during which certain regulations apply. Typically, curfews order all people affected by them to ''not'' be in public places or on roads within a certain time frame, typically in the evening and ...

that prohibited night baseball on Sundays in Philadelphia. McCahan was credited with his second big-league

complete game In baseball, a complete game (CG) is the act of a pitcher pitching an entire game without the benefit of a relief pitcher. A pitcher who meets this criterion will be credited with a complete game regardless of the number of innings played—pitche ...

, but was tagged with his first

loss Loss may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * ''Loss'' (Bass Communion album) (2006) * ''Loss'' (Mull Historical Society album) (2001) *"Loss", a song by God Is an Astronaut from their self-titled album (2008) * Losses "(Lil Tjay son ...

. McCahan followed his promising 1946 debut with a stellar

rookie A rookie is a person new to an occupation, profession, or hobby. In sports, a ''rookie'' is a professional athlete in their first season (or year). In contrast with a veteran who has experience and expertise, a rookie is usually inexperienced ...

campaign in as a member of the Athletics' revitalized pitching staff. He won ten games, lost five, and posted ten complete games and an earned run average of 3.32.

No-hit effort

The highlight of McCahan's 1947 season came on September 3. On that afternoon, McCahan

no-hit In baseball, a no-hitter is a game in which a team was not able to record a hit. Major League Baseball (MLB) officially defines a no-hitter as a completed game in which a team that batted in at least nine innings recorded no hits. A pitcher wh ...

the Washington Senators 3–0 at

. With one out in the second

inning In baseball, softball, and similar games, an inning is the basic unit of play, consisting of two halves or frames, the "top" (first half) and the "bottom" (second half). In each half, one team bats until three outs are made, with the other team ...

, Athletics'

first baseman A first baseman, abbreviated 1B, is the player on a baseball or softball team who fields the area nearest first base, the first of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. The first baseman is responsible for the majori ...

Ferris Fain Ferris Roy Fain (March 29, 1921 – October 18, 2001) was an American professional baseball player. He played as a first baseman in Major League Baseball from 1947 to 1955. A five-time All-Star, Fain won two American League batting championship ...

, after fielding a routine

ground ball In the sports of baseball and softball, a batted ball is a pitch that has been contacted by the batter's bat. Batted balls are either fair or foul, and can be characterized as a fly ball, pop-up, line drive, or ground ball. In baseball, a fou ...

, threw wildly to McCahan, covering first base. Stan Spence of the Senators made it all the way to second base, the only blemish on McCahan's otherwise

perfect game Perfect game may refer to: Sports * Perfect game (baseball), a complete-game win by a pitcher allowing no baserunners * Perfect game (bowling), a 300 game, 12 consecutive strikes in the same game * Perfect Game Collegiate Baseball League, New York ...

.Robbins, Mike (2004). ''Ninety Feet from Fame: Close Calls with Baseball Immortality'', p. 239 (New York: Carroll & Graf). McCahan had been on the losing end of the last no-hitter prior to this one, pitched by Cleveland's Don Black on July 10 of that same season; not until

Tim Lincecum Timothy Leroy Lincecum ( ; born June 15, 1984), nicknamed "The Freak", "The Franchise", "The Freaky Franchise" and "Big Time Timmy Jim", is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the San ...

in 2013 would a pitcher hurl a no-hitter after being on the losing end of the last no-hitter before it. McCahan's no-hitter would also be the last for the Athletics until

Catfish Hunter's perfect game On Wednesday, May 8, 1968, Jim "Catfish" Hunter of the Oakland Athletics pitched the ninth perfect game in Major League Baseball history, defeating the Minnesota Twins 4-0 at Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum. The game was not televised. Hunte ...

in ; by Hunter's time, the franchise had moved to

Oakland Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third largest city overall in the Bay A ...

via

Kansas City The Kansas City metropolitan area is a bi-state metropolitan area anchored by Kansas City, Missouri. Its 14 counties straddle the border between the U.S. states of Missouri (9 counties) and Kansas (5 counties). With and a population of more ...

Late career

However, while he was working for an oil company during the 1947–1948 offseason, McCahan injured his shoulder lifting barrelsSkelton, David E., ''Bill McCahan''

Society for American Baseball Research The Society for American Baseball Research (SABR) is a membership organization dedicated to fostering the research and dissemination of the history and record of baseball primarily through the use of statistics. Established in Cooperstown, New ...

Biography Project—ruining his season and his long-term MLB career. He won only four of 11 decisions in 1948, and although he threw five more complete games, his earned run average ballooned to a poor 5.71. In 1949, he worked in only 12 games (five of them at Triple-A), and the Athletics traded him to the

Brooklyn Dodgers The Brooklyn Dodgers were a Major League Baseball team founded in 1884 as a member of the American Association (19th century), American Association before joining the National League in 1890. They remained in Brooklyn until 1957, after which the ...

. He spent three seasons in the Dodgers'

farm system In sports, a farm team, farm system, feeder team, feeder club, or nursery club is generally a team or club whose role is to provide experience and training for young players, with an agreement that any successful players can move on to a higher ...

, but, apart from an invitation to the Dodgers' 1950

spring training Spring training is the preseason in Major League Baseball (MLB), a series of practices and exhibition games preceding the start of the regular season. Spring training allows new players to try out for Schedule (workplace), roster and position spo ...

camp, he never saw any action with Brooklyn. In his four-year, 57-game major league career, McCahan compiled a 16–14 won–lost record and a 3.84 earned run average. He allowed 297 hits and 145 bases on balls in 290 innings pitched, with 76 strikeouts. McCahan had 17 complete games and two shutouts among his 40 career starts. McCahan's service with the Double-A

Fort Worth Cats The Fort Worth Cats was a professional baseball team based in Fort Worth, Texas, in the United States. The Cats were a member of the South Division of the now disbanded United League Baseball, which was not affiliated with Major League Basebal ...

led him to make his permanent home in that

Texas city Texas City is a city in Galveston County, Texas, Galveston County in the U.S. state of Texas. Located on the southwest shoreline of Galveston Bay, Texas City is a busy deepwater port on Texas's Gulf Coast, as well as a petroleum-refining and pe ...

. He married a Fort Worth woman, worked for

General Dynamics Corporation General Dynamics Corporation (GD) is an American publicly traded, aerospace and defense corporation headquartered in Reston, Virginia. As of 2020, it was the fifth-largest defense contractor in the world by arms sales, and 5th largest in the U ...

for 26 years, and died there, from cancer, at age 65. He was interred at Fort Worth's Greenwood Memorial Park.

References

External links

* *NBL statistics available fro
BBALLSports.com
s downloadable database {{DEFAULTSORT:McCahan, Bill 1921 births 1986 deaths American men's basketball players United States Army Air Forces bomber pilots of World War II Baseball players from Pennsylvania Basketball players from Philadelphia Buffalo Bisons (minor league) players Burials in Texas Deaths from cancer in Texas Duke Blue Devils baseball players Duke Blue Devils men's basketball players Elmira Pioneers players Fort Worth Cats players Major League Baseball pitchers Minor league baseball managers Montreal Royals players Philadelphia Athletics players Pueblo Dodgers players Syracuse Nationals players Toronto Maple Leafs (International League) players Wilmington Blue Rocks (1940–1952) players United States Army Air Forces officers

Early baseball career

No-hit effort

Late career

See also

References

External links