Rodney Duncan McCray (born September 13, 1963) is an American former

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 leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Modern professional ...

player who is best known for crashing through an

outfield The outfield, in cricket, baseball and softball is the area of the field of play further from the batsman or batter than the infield. In association football, the outfield players are positioned outside the goal area. In cricket, baseball a ...

fence attempting to make a catch. He played mostly in the minors, but also made it to the majors with the

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and ...

and

New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. They are one of two major league ...

from 1990 to 1992.

Early life and career

Born in

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at t ...

, McCray's family moved west while he was still a child. He enrolled at University High in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

, then attended West Los Angeles Junior College and Santa Monica Junior College. The speedy outfielder was drafted in the first round by the

in 1982 and then by the

Los Angeles Dodgers The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Established in 1883 in the city of Brooklyn ...

in 1983, but opted to stay in school. Finally, he signed with 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 penn ...

in 1984. After four years in the Padres chain, the White Sox claimed him in the 1987 minor league draft. Never much of a hitter (his career minor league

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 ...

was just .226), McCray proved effective by drawing walks (enough to pump his career on-base percentage up to .362) and stealing bases (as many as 91 in one season, with Charleston in 1986). After making the majors with the White Sox in 1990, McCray was sent back down to the AAA

Vancouver Canadians The Vancouver Canadians are a Minor League Baseball team located in Vancouver, British Columbia. They are members of the Northwest League and are affiliated with the Toronto Blue Jays. The Canadians play their home games at Nat Bailey Stadiu ...

of the Pacific Coast League the following year. On May 27, 1991, at Civic Stadium (now Providence Park) in

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the list of cities in Oregon, largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, Columbia rivers, Portland is ...

, McCray chased after a fly ball hit by Portland's

Chip Hale Walter William "Chip" Hale (born December 2, 1964) is an American professional baseball infielder, coach, and manager. Hale played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1989 through 1997, and managed in MLB from 2015 through 2016. He was nam ...

. McCray initially made the catch, but immediately turned to run right through a plywood fence in right field, just to the right of the marker, which caused him to drop the ball. The play was shown repeatedly on newscasts across the country; a video clip of the play is now part of a blooper reel looped at the Baseball Hall of Fame. McCray made it back up to the White Sox later that year, but was used almost exclusively as a pinch runner and backup outfielder. After signing with the

in 1992, McCray was again relegated to pinch running until May 8 against the Dodgers in

Shea Stadium Shea Stadium (), formally known as William A. Shea Municipal Stadium, was a multi-purpose stadium in Flushing Meadows–Corona Park, Queens, New York City.

, when he pinch-ran for

Eddie Murray Eddie Clarence Murray (born February 24, 1956), nicknamed "Steady Eddie," is an American former Major League Baseball (MLB) first baseman, designated hitter, and coach. Spending most of his MLB career with the Baltimore Orioles, he ranks fourth ...

, stayed in the game as the right fielder and then batted in the ninth with two men on and the score tied at 3-3. Off reliever

Tim Crews Stanley Timothy Crews (April 3, 1961 – March 23, 1993) was a Major League Baseball pitcher who played six seasons with the Los Angeles Dodgers from to . Crews was part of the Dodgers team that won the 1988 World Series. At the end of the 1992 ...

, McCray delivered a game-winning single in what was to be his only major league at-bat of 1992 (and the final one of his career). After appearing in two more games as a pinch runner, the Mets released McCray on June 8; after batting .242 in 61 games for the independent

Thunder Bay Whiskey Jacks One of the six founding members of the modern Northern League in 1993, the Thunder Bay Whiskey Jacks were league members from 1993 to 1998. They played their home games at Port Arthur Stadium in Thunder Bay, Ontario. 1993 Season The Whiskey J ...

of the Northern League in 1993, he retired as a player. McCray played in 67 major league games but logged just fourteen at-bats (with three hits), while stealing nine bases in ten attempts.

Later life

Rodney later served as a coach in the minor-leagues for the

Lethbridge Mounties The Lethbridge Black Diamonds were a minor league baseball team located in Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada.Lansing Lugnuts The Lansing Lugnuts are a Minor League Baseball team of the Midwest League and the High-A affiliate of the Oakland Athletics. They are located in Lansing, Michigan, and play their home games at Jackson Field. The Midwest League came to Lans ...

in 1998, and later a minor league base running and outfield instructor in the

organization. On August 12, 2006, McCray was honored in Portland with the "Rodney McCray Bobblehead Night", honoring his memorable crash through the wall. McCray threw out the first pitch, and right-center field of PGE Park was renamed "McCray Alley" in his honor. "I just wish I had run through something like a

Coca-Cola Coca-Cola, or Coke, is a carbonated soft drink manufactured by the Coca-Cola Company. Originally marketed as a temperance drink and intended as a patent medicine, it was invented in the late 19th century by John Stith Pemberton in Atlant ...

sign so I could have gotten endorsements," McCray said. "Instead, I ran through a local sign, `Flav-R-Pac meats.'" He is currently an assistant coach for Calvin Meadlock for the C2 teams in Houston, Texas.

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%). Th ...

, in its series Who's Number 1?, ranked the fence incident as the seventh-favourite sports blooper of all time.

The Best Damn Sports Show Period ''The Best Damn Sports Show Period'' was an American sports television show that aired on Fox Sports Net and Comcast SportsNet. The show regularly featured irreverent and opinionated interviews with top athletes, coaches, celebrities, and entertai ...

ranked the incident number one in their countdown of the Top 50 Devastating Hits in sports history. On June 4, 2019, McCray's son

Grant Grant or Grants may refer to: Places *Grant County (disambiguation) Australia * Grant, Queensland, a locality in the Barcaldine Region, Queensland, Australia United Kingdom * Castle Grant United States * Grant, Alabama * Grant, Inyo County, ...

was drafted by the

San Francisco Giants The San Francisco Giants are an American professional baseball team based in San Francisco, California. The Giants compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1883 as the New Y ...

in the third round of the 2019 MLB Rule 4 Draft.

Notes

External links

Video of McCray running through wall
{{DEFAULTSORT:McCray, Rodney 1963 births Living people African-American baseball players American expatriate baseball players in Canada American expatriate baseball players in Mexico Baseball players from Detroit Birmingham Barons players Charleston Rainbows players Chicago White Sox players Major League Baseball outfielders New York Mets players Reno Padres players Santa Monica Corsairs baseball players Sarasota White Sox players South Bend White Sox players Spokane Indians players Baseball players from Los Angeles Sultanes de Monterrey players Thunder Bay Whiskey Jacks players Tidewater Tides players Vancouver Canadians players West Los Angeles Wildcats baseball players 21st-century African-American people 20th-century African-American sportspeople University High School (Los Angeles) alumni