Henry Cooke "Irish" McIlveen (July 27, 1880 – October 18, 1960), commonly nicknamed "Irish" because he was born in

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdom ...

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

, was a Major League Baseball outfielder. He played for the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1906 and the

New York Highlanders The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. They are one o ...

in 1908–1909.

Early life

McIlveen was born in Belfast on July 27, 1880, and was the son of John J McIlveen and his wife Jemima Lavery. His father was from Dromara in County Down, his mother was from Belfast and they had eleven children. The family emigrated from Ulster to America in the late 1880s and settled in the Pittsburgh area in Pennsylvania. McIlveen attended Penn State University.

Baseball career

On July 10, 1906, McIlveen made his big league debut. He would end up hitting for a .215

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 ...

in 53 games over a three-year career. McIlveen did not play in the Majors in 1907. In 1906, McIlveen pitched in 2 games for an ERA of 7.71. In the field, he made four errors for a .951 career fielding percentage. McIlveen played his final game on May 9, 1909. He was 5 feet, 11.5 inches tall and 180 pounds in weight. He also threw and batted left-handed.

Death

McIlveen died on October 18, 1960, in Lorain, Ohio, aged 80. His body is buried at Ridge Hill Memorial Park in Lorain.

Sources

{{DEFAULTSORT:McIlveen, Irish 1880 births 1960 deaths Irish emigrants to the United States (before 1923) Major League Baseball players from the United Kingdom Major League Baseball players from Northern Ireland Northern Irish baseball players Pennsylvania State University alumni Penn State Nittany Lions baseball players Sportspeople from Belfast Sportspeople from Lorain, Ohio Pittsburgh Pirates players New York Highlanders players Major League Baseball right fielders Steubenville Stubs players Newark Indians players