Cochrane, "Mickey" (Gordon S.)
Baseball
b. April 6, 1903, Bridgewater, MA
d. June 28, 1962
Cochrane was on the baseball, basketball, football, and track teams at Boston University, and he earned some of his tuition money by playing semi-pro baseball during the summers, using the alias "Frank King" to preserve his college eligibility.
When he graduated in 1923, Cochrane joined a minor league team in Dover, Delaware. The Portland team in the Pacific Coast League was interested in him, but couldn't afford the $50,000 that Dover wanted for his contract.
Connie Mack of the Philadelphia Athletics bought the Portland team for $150,000 and paid the $50,000 for Cochrane, who spent the 1924 season with Portland and then became Philadelphia's starting catcher.
"Black Mike," as he was called by his teammates, hit .331 in his rookie year. He went on to bat over .300 nine times in his thirteen seasons, and he caught more than 100 games each of his first eleven seasons.
He was not only a fine left-handed hitter, Cochrane was also outstanding on defense. During his early years, he was clearly the best catcher in baseball; later, it was a tossup between him and Bill Dickey of the New York Yankees.
Cochrane was named the AL's most valuable player in 1928, when Philadelphia finished second to the Yankees. The award was largely a tribute to his defense and leadership, since he hit only .293 that season.
The Athletics won three consecutive pennants, from 1929 through 1931, with Cochrane hitting .331, .357, and .349. They won the World Series the first two years but lost to the St. Louis Cardinals in 1931.
As the Great Depression deepened, Mack began to sell off his high-salaried players. Cochrane went to the Detroit Tigers for $100,000 after the 1933 season and became Detroit's player-manager.
The Tigers had finished fifth in 1933, but Cochrane guided them to pennants in 1934 and 1935 and a six-game victory over the Chicago Cubs in the 1935 World Series. In 1934, he won the most valuable player award for the second time.
During the 1936 season, Cochrane suffered a nervous breakdown. He returned as player-manager in 1937, but was hit in the head by a pitch on May 25 and lay in a coma for ten days. His playing career was over.
Cochrane managed the Tigers until August of 1938, when he was replaced. He later served as a coach and, briefly, general manager of the Athletics, as a scout, and as vice-president of the Detroit club from 1961 until his death from a respiratory ailment.