Michael Francis McCormick (September 29, 1938June 13, 2020) was an American
baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...
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 ...
who played 16 seasons in
Major League Baseball
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), ...
(MLB). He played for the
New York/San Francisco Giants,
Baltimore Orioles
The Baltimore Orioles are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East division. As one of the American L ...
,
Washington Senators,
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
Kansas City Royals
The Kansas City Royals are an American professional baseball team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Royals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team was founded as an expans ...
from 1956 to 1971. He batted and threw left-handed and served primarily as a
starting pitcher
In baseball (hardball or softball), a starting pitcher or starter is the first pitcher in the game for each team. A pitcher is credited with a game started if they throw the first pitch to the opponent's first batter of a game. Starting pit ...
.
Signed by the Giants as a
bonus baby, McCormick
went directly to the major leagues and made his debut on September 3, 1956. After spending seven seasons with the organization, he was traded to the Baltimore Orioles and played two years there before being dealt again, this time to the Washington Senators. He returned to the Giants in 1967 and in his first season back with the team, he became the first pitcher in Giants franchise history to win the
Cy Young Award
The Cy Young Award is given annually to the best pitchers in Major League Baseball (MLB), one each for the American League (AL) and National League (NL). The award was first introduced in 1956 by Baseball Commissioner Ford Frick in honor of Hall ...
(from 1956 to 1966, the Award was only given out to one pitcher rather than one from each of the two leagues). In the middle of the 1970 season, he was traded to the New York Yankees, who released him before the start of the next season. He then signed with the Kansas City Royals, with whom he played his last game on May 22, 1971.
Early life
McCormick was born on September 29, 1938 in
Pasadena, California
Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commercial district.
I ...
. He studied at
Mark Keppel High School
Mark Keppel High School (MKHS) is a four-year California Distinguished School located in the city of Alhambra, California, in the Alhambra Unified School District. The school is on the southern edge of Alhambra, adjacent to the city of Monterey ...
in
Alhambra, California
Alhambra (, , ; from " Alhambra") is a city located in the western San Gabriel Valley region of Los Angeles County, California, United States, approximately eight miles from the Downtown Los Angeles
Downtown Los Angeles (DTLA) contains t ...
.
During this time, he played in
American Legion Baseball, where he won 49 out of the 53 games he pitched, threw four
no-hitter
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 ...
s and struck out 26 batters in a game.
After he graduated from high school, he married Carolyn Koehler on August 2, 1956. Several weeks later, on August 31, the
New York Giants
The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. ...
signed him as an amateur
free agent
In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...
. Although McCormick was committed to attending college at the
University of Southern California
The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in C ...
,
the Giants offered him a signing bonus of $50,000 to forego university and join the organization. Because of the
Bonus Rule, he could not be placed in the
minor leagues
Minor leagues are professional sports leagues which are not regarded as the premier leagues in those sports. Minor league teams tend to play in smaller, less elaborate venues, often competing in smaller cities/markets. This term is used in No ...
for two years.
As a result, he
went directly to the major leagues and immediately began training with the first team the day after he signed.
[
]
Professional career
McCormick made his major league debut for the Giants on September 3, 1956, at the age of 17,[ relieving Rubén Gómez in the ninth inning and retiring all three batters he faced in a 5–1 loss against the ]Philadelphia Phillies
The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) National League East, East division. Since 2004, the team's home sta ...
. He made two starts later in the season, and finished with a 0–1 win–loss record
In sports, a winning percentage is the fraction of games or matches a team or individual has won. The statistic is commonly used in standings or rankings to compare teams or individuals. It is defined as wins divided by the total number of matc ...
and a 9.45 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 ...
(ERA) in innings pitched
In baseball, innings pitched (IP) are the number of innings a pitcher has completed, measured by the number of batters and baserunners that are put out while the pitcher is on the pitching mound in a game. Three outs made is equal to one innin ...
.[
McCormick threw a five-inning rain-shortened no-hitter against the ]Phillies
The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. Since 2004, the team's home stadium has been Citize ...
on June 12, 1959, allowing one walk. The Phillies were able to secure 1 hit (and 1 run) in the bottom of the 6th inning, but the game was called because of the rain.
As the 6th inning was never finished, the game statistics reverted to the completion of the last full inning, securing his no-hitter. However, due to a statistical rule change in 1991, no-hitters must last at least nine innings to count. As a result of the retroactive application of the new rule, this game and thirty-five others are no longer considered no-hitters.
At the end of the 1966 season, McCormick returned to the Giants in a trade that brought Cap Peterson and Bob Priddy to the Senators.
The 1967 season saw McCormick churn out one of the best statistical years in his career. He led the National League
The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team s ...
(NL) in wins with 22,[ and defeated every NL team other than the Giants that year. At the end of the season, McCormick won the ]Cy Young Award
The Cy Young Award is given annually to the best pitchers in Major League Baseball (MLB), one each for the American League (AL) and National League (NL). The award was first introduced in 1956 by Baseball Commissioner Ford Frick in honor of Hall ...
, garnering 90% of the vote and 18 out of 20 first place votes. In doing so, he became the first Giants pitcher to win the award, and was the only one to do so for 41 years 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 ...
won it in 2008.
McCormick was described, apparently in good faith, as the player who hit the 500th 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 ...
by an MLB pitcher.[ ] However, it is unclear how this was calculated, in an age without baseball encyclopedias, and it appears to have been a considerable under-estimate. In contrast, the claim that he was responsible for giving up Hank Aaron
Henry Louis Aaron (February 5, 1934 – January 22, 2021), nicknamed "Hammer" or "Hammerin' Hank", was an American professional baseball right fielder who played 23 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB), from 1954 through 1976. One of the gre ...
's 500th home run is undoubtedly correct. Because of these two reports, he personalized
Personalization (broadly known as customization) consists of tailoring a service or a product to accommodate specific individuals, sometimes tied to groups or segments of individuals. A wide variety of organizations use personalization to improv ...
his license plate with the words "Mr. 500".[
]
Personal life
After retiring from baseball, McCormick went on to pursue a career in securities
A security is a tradable financial asset. The term commonly refers to any form of financial instrument, but its legal definition varies by jurisdiction. In some countries and languages people commonly use the term "security" to refer to any for ...
business that he himself established over several MLB offseasons.
After three years in that field, he switched to office machines and copiers, working for Ricoh
is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational imaging and electronics company (law), company. It was founded by the now-defunct commercial division of the Riken, Institute of Physical and Chemical Research (Riken) known as the ''Riken ...
and then Danka, before retiring in 2002.[
He served annually as a guest instructor for the San Francisco Giants during ]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 ...
.[ He also conducted the team's fantasy camps and occasionally commentated on Giants' games.][
McCormick's Cy Young Award plaque was damaged in the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake after it fell off the wall of his ]Cupertino
Cupertino ( ) is a city in Santa Clara County, California, United States, directly west of San Jose on the western edge of the Santa Clara Valley with portions extending into the foothills of the Santa Cruz Mountains. The population was 57,8 ...
condominium. Although he was initially going to get the crack at the back repaired, he decided against it, noting how "it had more character now." He then housed it in a special room along with other memorabilia from his career.
Family
McCormick had four children from his first marriage to Carolyn.[ He was married to wife Dierdre for 34 years. They had one daughter, Tara.
After retiring from Danka, they moved from ]Sunnyvale, California
Sunnyvale () is a city located in the Santa Clara Valley in northwest Santa Clara County in the U.S. state of California.
Sunnyvale lies along the historic El Camino Real and Highway 101 and is bordered by portions of San Jose to the nort ...
[ and settled in ]Pinehurst, North Carolina
Pinehurst is a village in Moore County, North Carolina, United States. As of the 2010 census, the village population was 13,124. It is home of the historic Pinehurst Resort, a Golf resort, which has hosted multiple United States Open Champion ...
.[ At the O'Neal School in ]Southern Pines, North Carolina
Southern Pines is a town in Moore County, North Carolina, Moore County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 12,334 as of the 2010 United States Census.
History
Southern Pines was founded as a winter health resort for Northeastern U ...
, McCormick assisted the school's baseball program and donated his baseball memorabilia to the school to help them with their auctions.
Death
McCormick died on June 13, 2020, at his home in North Carolina. He was 81, and had been suffering from Parkinson's disease
Parkinson's disease (PD), or simply Parkinson's, is a long-term degenerative disorder of the central nervous system that mainly affects the motor system. The symptoms usually emerge slowly, and as the disease worsens, non-motor symptoms becom ...
in the years leading up to his death.
See also
* List of Major League Baseball annual ERA leaders
In baseball, earned run average (ERA) is a statistic used to evaluate pitchers, calculated as the mean of earned runs given up by a pitcher per nine innings pitched. A pitcher is assessed an earned run for each run scored by a baserunner who reach ...
* List of Major League Baseball annual wins leaders
References
External links
Baseball Almanac
{{DEFAULTSORT:McCormick, Mike
1938 births
2020 deaths
National League All-Stars
National League ERA champions
National League wins champions
Cy Young Award winners
New York Giants (NL) players
San Francisco Giants players
Baltimore Orioles players
Washington Senators (1961–1971) players
New York Yankees players
Kansas City Royals players
Major League Baseball pitchers
Rochester Red Wings players
Phoenix Giants players
Hawaii Islanders players
Tacoma Twins players
Baseball players from Pasadena, California
Neurological disease deaths in North Carolina
Deaths from Parkinson's disease