Steven Earl McCatty (born March 20, 1954) is an American former professional baseball

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 for the

Oakland Athletics The Oakland Athletics (often referred to as the A's) are an American professional baseball team based in Oakland, California. The Athletics compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. The te ...

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) from 1977 to 1985. He graduated from Troy High School in

Troy, Michigan Troy is a city in Oakland County, Michigan, United States. Its population was 87,294 at the 2020 U.S. census, making Troy the most populous city in the county and the 13th most-populous municipality in the state. Troy is a northern suburb of Me ...

, in 1972. He coached the

Washington Nationals The Washington Nationals are an American professional baseball team based in Washington, D.C.. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. From 2005 to 2007, the team played in RFK Stadiu ...

from 2009 through 2015.

Baseball career

Playing career

On August 10, 1980, McCatty pitched a 14-inning game against the

Seattle Mariners The Seattle Mariners are an American professional baseball team based in Seattle. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League West, West division. The team joined the American League ...

, only to lose 2–1. During the

1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 10 – Salvadoran Civil War: The FMLN launches its first major offensiv ...

strike-shortened season, McCatty finished the season with a 2.33 ERA, second in the

American League The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western League, a minor league ...

Sammy Stewart Samuel Lee Stewart (October 28, 1954 – March 2, 2018) was an American professional baseball player. He pitched in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1978 to 1987. Stewart had the best earned run average (ERA) in the American League (AL) in 1981 ...

's 2.32 mark and was tied with three others for most wins with 14, including four shutouts, the last two of which were consecutive starts for McCatty. He also finished second for 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 ...

, behind

Rollie Fingers Roland Glen Fingers (born August 25, 1946) is an American former right-handed relief pitcher in Major League Baseball who played for three teams between 1968 and 1985, when his effectiveness helped to redefine the value of relievers within baseba ...

. However, McCatty would never even approach his 1981 form again. A number of baseball historians and statisticians blame this on manager

Billy Martin Alfred Manuel Martin Jr. (May 16, 1928 – December 25, 1989), commonly called "Billy", was an American Major League Baseball second baseman and manager who, in addition to leading other teams, was five times the manager of the New York Yan ...

overworking McCatty and the other members of the 1981 staff. In 2006,

Rob Neyer Rob Neyer (born June 22, 1966) is an American baseball writer known for his use of statistical analysis or sabermetrics. He started his career working for Bill James and STATS and then joined ESPN.com as a columnist and blogger from 1996 to 2011 ...

estimated that McCatty threw 131 pitches per complete game in 1981, a heavy workload for a young pitcher even then. However, McCatty never blamed Martin for his post-1981 decline. During a

1982 Events January * January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00). * January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street bridges, 14th Street Bridge in ...

exhibition game against the

San Diego Padres The San Diego Padres are an American professional baseball team based in San Diego. The Padres compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1969, the club has won two NL penna ...

, McCatty stepped to the plate wielding a toy 15-inch bat but umpire

Jim Quick James Edward Quick (born September 6, 1943 in Sacramento, California) is a former Major League Baseball umpire who worked in the National League in and again from to . Quick wore uniform number 15 for most of his career. Minor leagues Quick b ...

would not allow him to hit. McCatty did this on orders from Martin, who was furious that the

designated hitter The designated hitter (DH) is a baseball player who bats in place of another position player, most commonly the pitcher. The position is authorized by Major League Baseball Rule 5.11. It was adopted by the American League in 1973 and later by th ...

rule was not allowed in

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 ...

ballparks, to use the toy bat as a protest.

Coaching career

After retiring as a player in 1986, McCatty remained in professional baseball working in radio and TV for the Oakland A's and with

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...

. McCatty later moved on to coach several minor league baseball clubs, and was hired as pitching coach by the

Detroit Tigers The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the American League (AL) Central division. One of the AL's eight charter franchises, the club was f ...

for the 2002 season. He subsequently coached for the

Ottawa Lynx The Ottawa Lynx were a Minor League Baseball team that competed in the Triple-A International League (IL) from 1993 to 2007. The team's home field was Lynx Stadium in Ottawa, Ontario. Over 15 seasons, the team was an affiliate of the Montreal ...

when it was the AAA affiliate of the

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 ...

. During the offseason, McCatty works with youngsters of all ages to teach pitching mechanics at Jason Thompson Baseball in

Auburn Hills Auburn Hills is a city in Oakland County, Michigan, Oakland County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 21,412 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census. Before incorporating as a city in 1983, the area was part of the now-defunct ...

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

. In 2009, McCatty became the second pitching coach in

franchise history, replacing

Randy St. Claire Randall Anthony St. Claire (born August 23, 1960) is a former professional baseball pitcher and current coach. He played all or part of nine seasons in Major League Baseball for the Montreal Expos (1984–88), Cincinnati Reds (1988), Minnesota T ...

, who was fired, and McCatty was called upon to replace him after working at the Nationals' AAA affiliate. The Nationals fired McCatty and the entire coaching staff after the 2015 season.

References

External links

Retrosheet
{{DEFAULTSORT:McCatty, Steve 1954 births Living people American expatriate baseball players in Canada American League wins champions Baseball coaches from Michigan Baseball players from Detroit Buffalo Bisons (minor league) players Chattanooga Lookouts players Detroit Tigers coaches Fort Myers Sun Sox players Lewiston Broncs players Major League Baseball broadcasters Major League Baseball pitchers Major League Baseball pitching coaches Modesto A's players Minor league baseball coaches Oakland Athletics announcers Oakland Athletics players Ogden A's players People from Troy, Michigan San Jose Bees players San Jose Missions players Sportspeople from Detroit Tucson Toros players Vancouver Canadians players