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Jim McCormick

Positions: Pitcher and Outfielder
Bats: Right  •  Throws: Right
5-10, 215lb (178cm, 97kg)
Born: November 3, 1856 in Glasgow, United Kingdom
Died: March 10, 1918  in Paterson, NJ
Buried: Laurel Grove Memorial Park, Totowa, NJ
Debut: May 20, 1878 (384th in major league history)
Last Game: October 7, 1887
Full Name: James McCormick
View Player Info from the B-R Bullpen
View Player Bio from the SABR BioProject

Notable Events and Chronology 

Sort bySearch Days, Events, Players Title (A - Z)Date (Newest)

July 8, 1877

Jim McCormick of Columbus gives up only 4 hits in 18 innings

June 29, 1878

Jim McCormick finishes his first week in the NL by beating the Reds for the 3rd time

July 11, 1878

Blues pitcher Jim McCormick suffers a broken bone in his forearm in the 7th inning and still completes games

June 29, 1880

Cleveland beats Boston, 6 – 5, with Gid Gardner pitching his first game of the season

July 17, 1880

Rookie Harry Stovey hits his first homerun‚ connecting off Jim McCormick 

September 20, 1881

Ed Nolan‚ John Clapp‚ and Jim McCormick all miss the Cleveland game in Worcester because their return from a side trip to NYC is delayed by a t rain wreck. The club fines each $100. The Blue Stockings win without them‚ 6-5.

August 21, 1882

 Fred Clarke breaks up Jim McCormick’s no-hitter in bottom of the 9th‚ but Cleveland defeats Philadelphia‚ 6-0.

May 23, 1884

 Larry Corcoran limits Cleveland (NL) to one single in a 5-0 shutout for Chicago. Jim McCormick takes the loss at National League Park.

September 16, 1884

Jim McCormick picks off 4 Boston Unions in an 8-4 Cincinnati victory‚ one of his 21 UA wins. Earlier in the season he won 19 games for Cleveland (NL). He will lead the UA in winning percentage and in ERA and his combined won-loss record for the year is 40-25 (21-3 in UA)‚ just missing being a 20-game winner for two teams in the same season.

April 18, 1885

At an NL meeting‚ the 5 men who jumped the NL to sign with the UA in 1884 (including John Day‚ Charlie Sweeney‚ Dupee Shaw‚ and Jim McCormick) are reinstated with fines of $1‚000.

July 3, 1885

Providence P Jim McCormick beats St. Louis 3-2 for his 200th career victory.

May 28, 1886

Chicago notches its most lopsided shut out victory ever‚ a 20-0 whitewash of Washington. Only two of the runs are earned against Cannonball Crane. After the 3rd inning‚ Chicago P Jim McCormick switches positions with RF John Flynn‚ who tosses the last 5 frames.

July 1, 1886

Jim McCormick raises his record for the season to 16-0‚ pitching Chicago to a 7-3 victory over New York.

July 3, 1886

Jim McCormick loses his first game of the season as Mickey Welch and the Giants win‚ 7-3. The sore hands of C Mike Kelly and 5 hits by Monte Ward are the key factors.

October 22, 1886

The Unconventional Pitching Duel of 1886 World Series Game 5

February 6, 1887

AL Spalding meets with the Chicago players and exacts from each man a pledge of total abstinence from drinking

April 20, 1887

Chicago trades holdout Jim McCormick‚ a 10-year vet‚ to Pittsburgh for untried rookie P George Van Haltran. Van Haltran is staging something of a holdout as well‚ staying in California to be with his mother who is seriously ill. Chicago also gets $2‚500.

January 10, 1918

Cap Anson picks his all-time team

July 11, 1978

Jim McCormick suffers a broken bone in his forearm but stays in to pitch 3 more innings

December 29, 2018

Jim McCormick Stats & Facts

Biography

McCormick was a burly, Scottish-born, underhand pitcher during baseball’s pioneering era, when most teams carried only two or three pitchers. As a 23-year-old playing manager in 1879, he recorded a National League-high 40 wins, starting 60 of Cleveland’s 82 games. The following year, he led the league with 45 wins, working 657 innings. He then relinquished his managing job to concentrate on pitching. In 1882, as he had in 1880, he recorded league highs in wins (36), appearances, starts, innings pitched, hits allowed, and – for the third consecutive season – complete games. His 466 career complete games put him among the all-time leaders.

In 1883 and 1884, McCormick led the NL in ERA (1.84 and 2.37) and winning percentage (.675 and .615). His 40-25 mark in ’84 included ten shutouts, and was bolstered by a 21-3 record in the short-lived Union Association. His final winning campaign came with Chicago in 1886, when he won 16 straight to finish 31-11. McCormick’s teams were shut out in 43 of his 214 career losses. In 1880 he was on the losing end of ten shutouts, including a 1-0 loss to Worcester’s Lee Richmond, who threw a perfect game.

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