George Yapple McKinnon (November 24, 1918 – December 15, 2009) was an American minor league baseball player, coach of

college athletics College athletics encompasses non-professional, collegiate and university-level competitive sports and games. World University Games The first World University Games were held in 1923. There were originally called the ''Union Nationale des ...

, and a Navy

communications officer A communications officer is a naval line officer responsible for supervising operation and maintenance of a warship's signal flags, signal lamps, and radio transmitters and receivers. The communications officer is usually responsible for encrypti ...

during World War II. He is best known for his years coaching at

Northwestern University Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern is the oldest chartered university in Illinois and is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in the world. Charte ...

Early years

McKinnon played

college baseball College baseball is baseball that is played on the intercollegiate level at institutions of higher education. In comparison to football and basketball, college competition in the United States plays a smaller role in developing professional pl ...

as a

shortstop Shortstop, abbreviated SS, is the baseball or softball fielding position between second and third base, which is considered to be among the most demanding defensive positions. Historically the position was assigned to defensive specialists who ...

where he was named All-

Big Ten The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...

and helped his team win a conference championship. After college, McKinnon went on to play minor league baseball during the 1941 season. He played 22 games as a second baseman for the

Winnipeg Maroons The Winnipeg Maroons were a minor League baseball team based in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, which played in the Northern League from 1902–1942. Their home field from 1906 to 1922 was Happyland Park, which had a seating capacity Seating ca ...

Manitoba Manitoba ( ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada at the Centre of Canada, longitudinal centre of the country. It is Canada's Population of Canada by province and territory, fifth-most populous province, with a population o ...

, and 27 games as a

third baseman A third baseman, abbreviated 3B, is the player in baseball or softball whose responsibility is to defend the area nearest to third base — the third of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. In the scoring system us ...

for the

Zanesville Cubs Zanesville is a city in and the county seat of Muskingum County, Ohio, United States. It is located east of Columbus and had a population of 24,765 as of the 2020 census, down from 25,487 as of the 2010 census. Historically the state capital ...

, a

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as part of the National League (NL) Central division. The club plays its home games at Wrigley Field, which is located ...

farm team 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 ...

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

. For the 1941 season, he compiled a .203

Batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average is ...

with one

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run i ...

Military service

McKinnon served as a communications officer in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

aboard the ill-fated . Ensign McKinnon was soon seeing plenty of action aboard the aircraft carrier. "We were attacked by two waves of bombers, got 16 of 18, and it is doubtful if the other two got home," he told the Harry Grayson on April 22, 1942. "I saw the entire action and there was more cheering on our ship than at a Northwestern–Notre Dame football game." On May 8, 1942, things took a dramatic turn for the crew of the USS ''Lexington''. The aircraft carrier was torpedoed and sunk by Japanese destroyers during the

Battle of the Coral Sea The Battle of the Coral Sea, from 4 to 8 May 1942, was a major naval battle between the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) and naval and air forces of the United States and Australia. Taking place in the Pacific Theatre of World War II, the batt ...

. McKinnon, however, survived the sinking and served out the duration of the war for the Navy, but an eventual return to civilian life did not mean a return to the diamond, at least not as a player. After he was sent back to the US to recuperate, and Navy officials, noticing his outstanding baseball play and Northwestern University, assigned him to coaching duties with

Navy football The Navy Midshipmen football team represents the United States Naval Academy in NCAA Division I FBS (Football Bowl Subdivision) college football. The Naval Academy completed its final season as an FBS independent school (not in a conference) i ...

and Navy baseball teams.

Coaching career

After the war, McKinnon earned his master's degree from

Western Reserve University Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

in 1947 and joined the coaching staff at

Cleveland Heights High School Cleveland Heights High School (commonly known as Heights, Heights High or Heights High School) is the senior high school of the Cleveland Heights-University Heights City School District, located in Cleveland Heights, Ohio, United States. History ...

the following year. He remained there for 12 years before returning to Northwestern as an assistant football coach to

Ara Parseghian Ara Raoul Parseghian (; hy, Արա Ռաուլ Պարսեղյան; May 21, 1923 – August 2, 2017) was an American football player and coach who guided the University of Notre Dame to national championships in 1966 and 1973. He is noted for bri ...

. McKinnon began his coaching career in 1961 as an assistant to

, head coach of the

Northwestern Wildcats football The Northwestern Wildcats football team represents Northwestern University as an NCAA Division I college football team and member of the Big Ten Conference based near Chicago in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern began playing fo ...

team. McKinnon also coached the

Northwestern Wildcats baseball The Northwestern Wildcats baseball team is the varsity intercollegiate athletic team of the Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, United States. The team competes in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's Division I and are membe ...

team. During his 20 years as head baseball coach, McKinnon led the Wildcats to five 20-win seasons including a career-best 28–12 record in 1973. McKinnon served as the head coach of the baseball program from 1962 to 1981 and compiled a 304–391–6 record over that span. At the time of his retirement following the 1981 season, he was the school's winningest coach in any sport. He also took a teaching and coaching position at

Fenn College Fenn typically appears as a surname. Occasionally it appears as a middle name, pen name or name of a fictional character. Notable people with the name Fenn As a surname *Courtenay Hughes Fenn (1866–1927), American-Chinese Presbyteria ...

(now part of

Cleveland State University Cleveland State University (CSU) is a public research university in Cleveland, Ohio. It was established in 1964 and opened for classes in 1965 after acquiring the entirety of Fenn College, a private school that had been in operation since 1923. ...

), coaching both basketball and baseball. In 1978, McKinnon received an award for 25 years of leadership and devotion to collegiate baseball from the American Association of College Baseball Coaches. He became a member of the Illinois High School Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame and was inducted in the Northwestern Athletics Hall of Fame in 1994.

Death

McKinnon died on December 14, 2009, at the age of 91.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:McKinnon, George 1918 births 2009 deaths United States Navy personnel of World War II Baseball players from Cleveland Basketball coaches from Ohio Case Western Reserve University alumni Cleveland State Vikings baseball coaches Cleveland State Vikings men's basketball coaches High school baseball coaches in the United States High school football coaches in Ohio Northwestern Wildcats baseball coaches Northwestern Wildcats baseball players Northwestern Wildcats football coaches Winnipeg Maroons (baseball) players Zanesville Cubs players