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Joe McGinnity

Baseball is an outdoor sport in which a pitcher pitches a hard, fist sized ball to the hitting area of a batter. The batter hits the hard ball with a tapered, smooth, cylindrical bat made up of wood or metal. The batsman scores by running counter-clockwise within the four markers called the bases arranged at the corners of a diamond. Baseball is sometimes called hardball to differentiate it from similar games such as softball.

Joe McGinnity was born on March 20, 1871, in Cornwall, Illinois. McGinnity was 28 years old when he broke into the big leagues on April 18, 1899, with the Baltimore Orioles. His height was five foot eleven inches and weight is 206 pounds. He died on 14 November 1929, in Brooklyn, New York. He perfected an underhand pitch that has a similar movement to the riseball in fastpitch softball. That pitch kept him in the game until his mid-50s. He reportedly threw it nearly every pitch. Catchers caught him without using signs.

McGinnity did not get to the majors until he was 28, then lasted only 10 seasons, but earned his sobriquet, Iron Man, by his frequent appearances. He often pitched both halves of doubleheaders. He had had two inauspicious years in the minors and was pitching semi-pro ball when he developed an underhand delivery and change of pace which, in one season, vaulted him to the majors. As a rookie with the 1899 Baltimore Orioles, he led the National League with 28 victories.

McGinnity was a rough, tough player who, when he ran a saloon, never had to hire a bouncer. He welcomed diminutive umpire Tom Connolly into the majors by spitting in the future Hall of Famer's face. His durability was remarkable. With the exception of 1902, he led his league in games pitched every year from 1900 to 1907 and in innings from 1899 to 1904. He started and went the route more times than any pitcher in 1901, and any pitcher in 1904. In his two World Series starts, in 1905, he did not allow an earned run.

McGinnity left the majors after the 1908 season to pitch for and manage Newark Eastern League. He returned to the Dodgers for a time as a coach. In 1946 he was elected to the Hall of Fame by the Veterans Committee.

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