McCormick, Frank A.
Baseball
b. June 9, 1911, New York, NY
d. Nov. 21, 1982
A right-handed first baseman, McCormick led the National League in hits three consecutive years, with 209 in 1938 and in 1939 and 191 in 1940. He also led with 128 RBI in 1939 and with 44 doubles in 1940, when he was named the league's most valuable player. McCormick had a .309 batting average with 93 runs scored and 127 RBI for the Cincinnati Reds that season.
The Reds won pennants in 1939 and 1940. McCormick batted .400 in a four-game World Series loss to the New York Yankees in 1939. He hit only .214 in the 1940 World Series, but with Cincinnati trailing 1-0 in the seventh inning of the final game, he started the winning rally with a leadoff double and scored the tying run. The Reds won the game 2-1 and the Series four games to three.
The 6-foot-4, 205-pound McCormick wasn't much of a power hitter, despite his size. He specialized in hard-hit line drives and only once hit 20 home runs, in 1944. McCormick had brief trials with the Reds in 1934 and 1937 before becoming a starter in 1938. He was traded to the Philadelphia Phillies in 1946 and went to the Boston Braves during the 1947 season. He retired after batting .250 for Boston in 1948.
In 1,5347 games, McCormick had a .299 average on 1,711 hits, including 334 doubles, 26 triples, and 128 home runs. He scored 722 runs and had 951 RBI.