Iron Man

By David Marasco

Iron Man is a tag acquired by performing feats of great endurance. Cal Ripken now proudly wears the title that he earned by passing up Lou Gehrig for most consecutive games played. The Giants' Iron Man, Joe McGinnity, earned his nickname the easy way; he worked in his father's iron foundry. When asked what he did during the off-season, he replied "I'm an iron man." There is a reason this name stuck, for he was the workhorse for the Giants for the first few years of this century.

He broke in with the old National League Baltimore franchise in 1899, leading the league in wins (28) and innings pitched (380). The 28 wins are an all-time rookie record. However, he could not save the Baltimore franchise as the National League shed four teams in a financial retrenching at the end of 1899. 1900 saw McGinnity with Brooklyn. This time in addition to leading the league in wins (29) and innings pitched (347), he also topped the charts in games (45) and walks (113). His manager John McGraw sent McGinnity to the mound five times in eleven days down the stretch and he won every time. In 1900 several powerful investors looked at the National League's shrinking from 12 teams to 8 as a sign of weakness. They set up a league of their own and played out a schedule in 1900. In early 1901, these baseball magnates declared their American League to be a second Major League. Their first new player was one Joe McGinnity. Playing for the Baltimore Orioles (later known as the New York Yankees), Joe once again topped his league in several categories, including games (48), starts (43), complete games (39), hits (412) and saves (3). Halfway through the 1902 season the New York Giants found themselves hopelessly in last place. They made one of the best decisions in baseball history, they stole manager John McGraw from Baltimore. McGraw made a good choice of his own, he brought McGinnity to New York with him. While McGraw could not keep the Giants from finishing in the cellar in 1902, he had in his rotation both his Iron Man and a young man by the name of Christy Mathewson.

In 1903 the Giants rocketed from the basement and found themselves in a pennant race with Chicago and Pittsburgh. August was a crucial month, and it was McGinnity's actions during that period that would immortalize him. The Giants entered August with a losing streak, and on the first were to play a double header against the Boston Braves. McGinnity went to McGraw and asked permission to start in both halves of the double header. McGraw consented, as McGinnity had split a pair of such matches for him with Baltimore in 1901. 5583 spectators, a decent crowd by 1903 standards, saw McGinnity pitch a six-hitter in the first match, allowing but 1 run. The Giants put four runs on the board by the half-way point, and Joe cruised to a 4-1 victory. In the second game the Giants jumped on the Braves for a run in each of the first two innings. In the fifth inning McGinnity seemed to tire, and the Braves strung together a few hits to score two runs. Joe pitched his way out of the situation and his teammates scored three in the top of the next frame to put him ahead to stay. He won his second complete game of the day by a score of 5-2.

Roughly a week later, August 8th, the Brooklyn team came to the Polo Grounds for a double-dip. As the game drew from both the fan base of Brooklyn and New York, nearly 32,000 fans came to watch the festivities. While Brooklyn was still over a year away from being known as the Dodgers, the rivalry between the two teams was already very intense. Brooklyn broke open the scoring in the first inning of the first game. Sheckard, a left fielder who batted second in the lineup, singled and then stole second base. He was tallied on the cleanup hitter's single. While Brooklyn scored 8 hits off of McGinnity, he was able to hold them to one run in the first game. The Giants broke through in their half of the first and sent nine men to the plate. They were able to push across four runs using a combination of speed and power. With this lead McGinnity once again set himself on auto-pilot and won the first game by a score of 6-1.

The second Brooklyn game was far more interesting. The New York Times notes that "When McGinnity walked to the pitcher's box in the second game there was a storm of applause from the onlookers, most of whom wished him good luck." His pitching over the first three innings was very good. After walking the first man to face him, he retired the next three. In the third he struck out the side. In the home half of the third he generated some excitement on the basepaths. After reaching first, Joe decided to swipe second. When he did the umpire ruled that he had been interfered with, and hence sent him to third. The Brooklyn infield then entered a rather heated argument with Umpire Hurst about his judgement. Somewhere along the way, Brooklyn's starting pitcher left the ball on the mound and came in to give his spin on the event to the man in blue. McGinnity's eyes got wide and he promptly took off for home, stealing it easily. This made Brooklyn's starter even more furious, and he was ejected from the game. The Brooklynites then inserted their starter from the last game into the affair. After his baserunning heroics in the third, McGinnity tired in the fourth, giving up three consecutive hits that led to a pair of runs. Brooklyn pushed across another man in the fifth to take the lead by a score of 3-1. Sam Mertes brought the Giants one run closer in the sixth when he let fly a long ball to to left in in the sixth inning. In those days fans were allowed onto the field, but were corralled behind ropes. Mertes' ball landed past the rope and into the crowd for a solo home run. McGinnity righted his ship, and blanked Brooklyn for the rest of regulation. However, going into the bottom of the ninth the situation looked bleak for the Giants, they were down by a score of 3-2. The first two men singled, and when the next man laid down a bunt that was mishandled the Giants had tied up the game. McGraw then sent a pinch hitter in for McGinnity. George Van Haltren then hit a single down the right field line to win the game. The crowd took the field and carried the Giants off on their shoulders. Iron Man McGinnity had once again won two complete games on one day. Brooklyn's pitcher, a man named Jones, managed to lose both games due to the ejection of the second game's starter. The sweep put the Giants into second place.

On August 31 the Giants were just barely ahead of the Chicago Cubs, and still chasing the mighty Pittsburgh Pirates. The Philadelphia Phillies came to the Polo Grounds, and it was important that the Giants be able to take two from the cellar-dwelling Phils. They had just the man. The Giants put up a run in the first and then three in the second, when McGinnity singled with bases juiced. The Phillies would then stiffen, but it did not matter as McGinnity was a master, throwing a five-hitter. He gave up his only run of the game in the ninth when one of his outfielders slipped and fell in the rain-soaked turf. In the second game McGinnity faltered but once, in the third inning. With two men on he gave up a double to score both men, falling behind by the score of 2-0. In the following inning the Giants must have experienced some Deja Vu. Roger Bresnahan stole second base, but the Phillies disagreed with Umpire Hurst's ruling. As an argument traspired Bresnahan took third and then scored on a wild throw. This must have broken the Phillies' will to win as they gave up runs in the next four innings, going on to lose by a final of 9-2. For the third time in a month McGinnity had pitched both halves of a double header, and in each game he came away with a complete game victory.

The Giants would finish 6.5 games out of the money in 1903, but they had discovered a golden recipe. Young Christy Mathewson had gone 30-13, while Joe had gone 31-20. The Iron Man had pitched 434 innings, still a modern day National League record. His 44 complete games is the third highest total in the Modern Era. The next year he and Mathewson would anchor the Giants as they won the pennant. Mathewson's 33-12 (2.03) season was bested only by McGinnity's 35-8 (1.61). The Iron Man continued to pitch for New York through the 1908 season, although by that time he was more coach than player. When the time came for hm to retire, he simply worked his way back down through the minors. As late as 1923, McGinnity was pitching at the age of 54. He would die in 1929, and be elected into the Hall of Fame in 1946.