"Iron" Joe McGinnity: Hall of Fame New York Giants Pitcher (1902-1908)

Joseph Jerome McGinnity was born March 20, 1871 in Cornwall, Illinois to Peter & Hannah McGinnity. Although he stood at five foot eleven he was one of the biggest players of his day.

In 18979 his father was crushed to death by a load of coal working in a coal mine. Eight year old Joe & his two brothers had to work to support the family.

Iron Joe: Joe earned his nickname of "Iron Man" due to the fact he worked in an Iron foundry in the off seasons. 

In the late 1880's McGinnity's career began pitching in Georgia with the Decatur Coal Mining Company. As his family was on the move again heading west his Aunt struck gold in the soon to be named  Oklahoma which was Indian territory at the time. It was there he became a local favorite & was discovered Joe pitched six minor league seasons getting noticed discovered by the owner of the Brooklyn Grooms & Baltimore Orioles teams of the day.

Joe was also one of the most durable pitchers in baseball history, he did not believe in long rests
during pitching days & could not understand why a team couldn't just use five or six pitchers on a staff as opposed to ten.

Quotes- Iron Joe McGinnity: "They have been influenced into the belief that they should not have to work without a long rest & that they can't be effective without rest".

Pitching Style: McGinnity claimed his arm never hurt him & he could throw the ball all day long without tiring. He was not a power pitcher, instead he threw a submarine style motion with a sinker & more famously a nasty curve ball that he referred to as "old Sal. Sometimes he would throw a game with an overhand delivery to throw off the hitters. 

Joe was a master at the spitball which was legal at the time. He never hesitated to brush back hitters off the plate or level them. A true competitor who once on the field, never accepted defeat & would fight in the blink of an eye. If anything he was known by some to be too aggressive & was over the top. He was also famous for bantering & antagonizing the opposing batter & base runners during a game to get into their head.

 Trivia: Iron Joe was also one of the first known pitchers to study batters & keep a leger in his locker on opposing players. 

MLB Career: In 1899 McGinnity was assigned to the Baltimore Orioles where he played along with his future manager John McGraw. McGraw & player manager Wilbert Robinson (both future Hall of Famers) influenced McGinnity with their over aggressive style of play. In the early 20th Century baseball was a nasty game & these Orioles teams were one of the dirtiest, most raucous bunch of fighters the game ever knew. 

Arrested: In one incident McGinnity spat on an umpire & was arrested, receiving a long suspension, that was shortened when he apologized. 

That year Iron Joe went 28-16 leading the league in wins pitching in 48 games (second most in the league) & posted a 2.68 ERA (third best in the league). 

In 1900 the owners combined the team & moved to Brooklyn with a team called the "Superbas"
who eventually became the Dodgers.  Joe once again led the league in wins (28) winning percentage (.778) & innings (343). He also set a modern day record with hit batsmen (40). That year he helped lead Brooklyn to a Championship (pre World Series era). 

The following season he jumped over the newly formed American League, taking less money than the Brooklyn team had offered him. In the new league he had a chance to reunite with his old teammate John McGraw. But McGraw hated the new Al & constantly fought with its president Ban Johnson. With the Baltimore team in heavy debt, McGraw got out of his contact mid-season & managed to grab a few players with him jumping to NL's New York Giants.

New York Giants Career: McGraw became the Giants player / manager & remained the teams skipper for thirty one years thru 1932. In 1901 McGraw brought over McGinnity, as well as Roger Bresnahan, Dan McGann, Frank Bowerman & Frank Nelson. Then the next year Steve Brodie & George Yeager, also came over from Baltimore. 

Two Thirty Game Winners: In 1903 Iron Man McGinnity, won 31 games (31-20) setting NL records in starts (48) & innings pitched (434). That year teammate Christy Mathewson also won thirty games becoming the only teammates in NL history to both have thirty win seasons. They would do it again the following season. The pitching combo accounted for three quarters of the teams victories.

In August of 1903, Iron Man Joe started both ends of a double header three times & made 12 over starts while pitching 105 innings in the month. 

Quotes- Iron Joe: "Nothing can hurt my arm. I can throw curves like that all day. Last year, I once pitched a 21-inning game for Peoria that took four hours. I never hurt my arm.". 

At the end of the season he joined several Giants team mates who accused owner John T. Brush on holding out payouts to the players. 

 In the 1904 he (35 wins) & Mathewson (33 wins) repeated as thirty game winners, something baseball has never seen two team mates do again. McGinnity started the season winning his first 14 games pitching five shut outs while not taking a loss until June 11th. In a July double header in St. Louis he won his 20th game in the opener then collected a save in the night cap. From August 12th thru September 26th he won nine straight games pitching three more shut outs. 

On the season he won 35 games, going 35-8 leading the league in wins for the second straight year, as well as shut outs (9) winning percent (.814%) WAR (9.6) starts (51) saves (5) & a career best 1.61 ERA. He also pitched over 400 innings (408) for the second straight year. 

He went 8-0 against the Boston Nationals, 60 against Brooklyn & 4-0 against the Phillies alone that season.

1904 NL Champions: That year the Giants topped the NL, but did not compete in a World Series because manager John McGraw refused to acknowledge the American League & their champion team the Boston Pilgrims. 

1905 World Champions: In 1905 Iron Joe won 21 games, second on the staff to Christy Mathewson (31 wins) helping lead the Giants to a World Championship. By now Mathewson became the games best pitcher, maybe the best the game has ever seen. No doubt the elder McGinnity helped as a mentor.

McGinnity led the league in starts (48) posted a 2.87 ERA, threw 320 innings. He would again lead the league in starts (46) and do so for five straight seasons total, six times overall. 

1905 World Series: The 1905 win over Connie Mack's Philadelphia A's, would be Iron Man McGinnity's only World Series appearance, although he got overshadowed by Christy Mathewson who threw an incredible three shutouts in a week. In Game #2 at the Polo Grounds, McGinnity took the loss to the A's Chief Bender who shut out New York 3-0. It was the only game the Giants would lose in that series. 

In Game #4 also at the Polo Grounds, McGinnity retuned to throw a five hit shutout of his own, sandwiched between two of Christy Mathewson's shut out performances. In the game McGinnity allowed just five hits in beating the A's Eddie Plank in a 1-0 pitchers duel. Plank also allowed just five hits. The only run came on a 4th inning RBI single from Billy Gilbert.

After the Championship: In 1906, McGinnity came back to lead the league in wins again going 27-12 with a 2.25 ERA. It was the fifth time he topped the league in victories. Although New York won 96 games they finished second to the Cubs who won 116 games. 

In 1907, Joe was 37 years old, he went 18-18 as the Giants fell to fourth place. It was the only time in his career he didn’t post a winning record. For the fifth straight year he led the league in appearances (47) while also leading in games finished (12) & saves (4). He threw over 300 innings (310) for the fifth straight season, ninth time overall.

In 1908 known as the Crazy '08 Season, was to be Iron Man McGinnity's final MLB season. 

Merkles Boner: A few weeks earlier, in a matchup between the two rivals fighting for the NL pennant, a costly Giants mental error by Fred Merkle led to a big Giants loss. At the end of the game, Merkle collected a walk off hit which appeared to end the game with a Giants win. But Merkle did not run out the play before the winning run crossed the plate. In those days fans exited on the field thru centerfield. as that happened Cubs players called for the ball in order to tag the base making Merkle out with the run not counting.

Joe McGinnity was the third base coach for the game & as legend has it recovered the ball (or a
ball) then  threw it into the stands. The Cubs Frank Chance retrieved a ball, some say wrestling a fan to get it, then notified umpire Frank McCormick. The Giants manager John McGraw came out to argue his point as did hundreds of Giants fans on the field exiting the game. 

The umpires met in a caged area under the stands with NUPD protecting them from thousands of angry Giants fans who got wind of what was happening. Eventually that night or the next morning league officials decided the game ended in a tie. It must be noted the Giants lost two of the three other games in that series & lost six of eight plus that tie that week.

The season of course ended in a tie with the make up game deciding the pennant held at the Polo Grounds on the final day of the season. Fans overwhelmed the area trying to get into the game, with two men actually falling to their death trying trying to observe the game with thousands of others on the hill of Coogan's Bluff & the surrounding areas. The Giants lost the game 4-2 as Three Fingered Mordecai Brown beat Christy Mathewson.

That season the 38 year old, Iron Joe fell back to being the fourth best pitcher on the staff, 11-7 with a 2.27 ERA while leading the league in saves (5) for the second straight year.

Career Stats: Iron Man finished his ten year career with 246 wins (53rd all time) & 142 losses. Iron Joe had two thirty win seasons, eight twenty win seasons leading the league in victories five times.

He posted a 2.66 ERA (70th all time). He pitched 3441 innings (80th all time) with 314 complete games (33rd all time) 32 shutouts (99th all time) & 24 saves. Joe posted 1068 strikeouts in 465 appearances making 381 starts (164 all time). 

He was a fine fielding pitcher, making 929 assists mostly due to his slow "old Sal" pitch. 

Hall of Fame: In 1946, Joe McGinnity was elected into the Baseball Hall of Fame.

 Retirement: After his MLB playing days, he went back to the minor leagues pitching until 1924 when he was an incredible 54 years. In the minors he won a total of 207 games. 

Family: Joe & his wife Mary had one daughter. Mary passed away in 1926.

Passing: In 1929, McGinnity passed away from bladder cancer at his daughters house in Brooklyn New York, walking distance to Ebbets Field, he was 58 years old.