 |
 |
Michael Francis McCormick
San Francisco Giants
Pitcher
Born: September 29, 1938, Pasadena, CA
Signed: Signed by the New York Giants as an amateur free agent (bonus baby), August 31, 1956
Major League Teams: New York Giants 1956-57; San Francisco Giants 1958-62; Baltimore Orioles 1963-64; Washington Senators 1965-66; San Francisco Giants 1967-70; New York Yankees 1970; Kansas City Royals 1971
Died: June 13, 2020, Cornelius, NC (age 81)
Mike McCormick was a 16-year veteran, spending two stints with the Giants spanning 11 seasons. In his first stint with the club he was a four-time All-Star in 1960 and 1961, winning the league's ERA title in 1960 with a 2.70 mark. He won 11 games as a teenager in 1959, his first of eight total seasons winning ten games or more. After four seasons away from San Francisco, pitching for the Orioles and Senators, McCormick returned in 1967 for his second stint and had a career year. He went 22-10 that season with a 2.85 ERA in 40 games, throwing 14 complete games and five shutouts on the way to National League Cy Young Award honors. He'd pitch for a few more seasons with the Giants before closing out his career with brief stays with the Yankees and Royals.
McCormick's career record was 134-128 in 484 games, with a 3.73 ERA and 1,321 strikeouts. A good fielding pitcher, he led the National League in four seasons with a perfect 1.000 fielding percentage. He often returned to Giants' spring trainings as a guest instructor and is a member of the San Francisco Giants Wall of Fame at Oracle Park.
Mike McCormick was a 16-year veteran, spending two stints with the Giants spanning 11 seasons. In his first stint with the club he was a four-time All-Star in 1960 and 1961, winning the league's ERA title in 1960 with a 2.70 mark. He won 11 games as a teenager in 1959, his first of eight total seasons winning ten games or more. After four seasons away from San Francisco, pitching for the Orioles and Senators, McCormick returned in 1967 for his second stint and had a career year. He went 22-10 that season with a 2.85 ERA in 40 games, throwing 14 complete games and five shutouts on the way to National League Cy Young Award honors. He'd pitch for a few more seasons with the Giants before closing out his career with brief stays with the Yankees and Royals.
McCormick's career record was 134-128 in 484 games, with a 3.73 ERA and 1,321 strikeouts. A good fielding pitcher, he led the National League in four seasons with a perfect 1.000 fielding percentage. He often returned to Giants' spring trainings as a guest instructor and is a member of the San Francisco Giants Wall of Fame at Oracle Park.
Some text for this post originally appeared on my 1965 Topps blog.
Building the Set / Card #453
December 15, 2024 from The Philly Show (Uncle Dick's Cards)
On Sunday, December 15th, Doug and I attended the latest Philly Show, spaciously spread out inside Hall A of the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center in Oaks, Pennsylvania. I wrote a full show report over at The Phillies Room, including some thoughts on attending the show with our oldest son, who first graced the Philly Show floors back in 2012.
The Card / Giants Team Set / Accuracy Index +5
1969 Season
McCormick never repeated the success he had during his Cy Young season of 1967, and this was his last solid season in the majors. As the third starter on the Giants' staff behind Gaylord Perry (#485) and Juan Marichal (#370), McCormick was 11-9 with a 3.34 ERA in 32 games, including 28 starts. He threw nine complete games and just missed reaching 200 innings pitched with 196 2/3.
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (15): 1958-72
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 2012 Topps Heritage Real One Autographs #ROA-MMC
Total Non-Parallel Baseball Cards: 109 in the Beckett online database as of 1/12/25.
December 15, 2024 from The Philly Show (Uncle Dick's Cards)
On Sunday, December 15th, Doug and I attended the latest Philly Show, spaciously spread out inside Hall A of the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center in Oaks, Pennsylvania. I wrote a full show report over at The Phillies Room, including some thoughts on attending the show with our oldest son, who first graced the Philly Show floors back in 2012.
Having had success the prior two shows at Uncle Dick's Cards with his well-organized, neon common binders, I opted to pull up a chair once again at the friendly dealer's array of tables. The aim was simple: Clear out Uncle Dick's 1969 Topps commons, starting off where I had left off the year before with card #501 and going through the end of the set, card #664. In less than 25 minutes, I completed my quest, and this is the ninth of 98 commons pulled from the binder. After a generous dealer discount due to my bulk purchase, this card cost me around $1.75.
The Card / Giants Team Set / Accuracy Index +5
McCormick was a big fan of the collared jacket under the jersey look, and a number of his baseball cards throughout the years show him sporting this now outdated fashion trend. The one sentence write-up on the back appropriately focuses on his Cy Young Award win in 1967. The cartoon highlights McCormick's 1.69 ERA in his two All-Star Game appearances. Selected to both games in 1960 and 1961, he pitched in one of the games each season. He allowed just one earned run, a home run to Harmon Killebrew (#375), in 5 1/3 innings pitched.
Accuracy Index: McCormick's card scores another +5. The later in the set we get, the more unneeded this rating system has become.
1969 Season
McCormick never repeated the success he had during his Cy Young season of 1967, and this was his last solid season in the majors. As the third starter on the Giants' staff behind Gaylord Perry (#485) and Juan Marichal (#370), McCormick was 11-9 with a 3.34 ERA in 32 games, including 28 starts. He threw nine complete games and just missed reaching 200 innings pitched with 196 2/3.
|
|
|
|
|
Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card: 1958 Topps #37Topps Flagship Set Appearances (15): 1958-72
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 2012 Topps Heritage Real One Autographs #ROA-MMC
Total Non-Parallel Baseball Cards: 109 in the Beckett online database as of 1/12/25.
Topps erroneously used a photo of fellow Giants pitcher Ray Monzant for McCormick's 1958 rookie card.
Beckett Database / The Trading Card Database
1965 Topps Blog
1965 Topps Blog
#516 Earl Weaver MG - Baltimore Orioles / #518 Fred Whitfield - Cincinnati Reds
No comments:
Post a Comment