| Mickey Cochrane | |
|---|---|
 Cochrane 1929 Becker Brothers baseball card | |
| Catcher /Manager | |
| Born:(1903-04-06)April 6, 1903 Bridgewater, Massachusetts, U.S. | |
| Died: June 28, 1962(1962-06-28) (aged 59) Lake Forest, Illinois, U.S. | |
Batted: Left Threw: Right | |
| MLB debut | |
| April 14, 1925, for the Philadelphia Athletics | |
| Last MLB appearance | |
| May 25, 1937, for the Detroit Tigers | |
| MLB statistics | |
| Batting average | .320 |
| Home runs | 119 |
| Runs batted in | 830 |
| Managerial record | 348–250 |
| Winning % | .582 |
Stats atBaseball Reference  | |
| Managerial record at Baseball Reference | |
| Teams | |
| As player As manager | |
| Career highlights and awards | |
| |
| Member of the National | |
 Baseball Hall of Fame | |
| Induction | 1947 |
| Vote | 79.5% (sixth ballot) |
Gordon Stanley "Mickey"Cochrane (April 6, 1903 – June 28, 1962), nicknamed "Black Mike", was an American professionalbaseball player,manager andcoach.[1] He played inMajor League Baseball as acatcher for thePhiladelphia Athletics andDetroit Tigers. Cochrane was considered one of the best catchers in baseball history and is a member of theBaseball Hall of Fame.[2][3][4] In his first season as manager, he led the Tigers to 101 wins, which was the most for a rookie manager for 27 years (since Cochrane, six other managers have won 100 games as a rookie).[5]
Cochrane was born in Massachusetts and was a multi-sport athlete atBoston University. After college, he chose baseball over basketball and football. He made his major league debut in 1925, having spent only one season in the minor leagues. He was chosen as theAmerican League (AL) Most Valuable Player in 1928 and he appeared in the World Series from 1929 to 1931. Philadelphia won the first two of those World Series, but Cochrane was criticized for giving up stolen bases when his team lost the series in 1931. Cochrane's career batting average (.320) is still an MLB record for a catcher.
Cochrane's career ended abruptly after a near-fatal head injury from abeanball in 1937. After hisprofessional baseball career, he served in the United States Navy in World War II and ran an automobile business. Cochrane died of cancer in 1962. In 1999,The Sporting News ranked him 65th on its list of the 100 Greatest Baseball Players.
Cochrane was born inBridgewater, Massachusetts. His father, John Cochrane, had immigrated fromOmagh,County Tyrone in what is nowNorthern Ireland and his mother, Sadie Campbell, had come fromPrince Edward Island, Canada, whence her family had immigrated fromScotland.[2] He was also known as "Black Mike" because of his fiery, competitive nature.[2][3] Cochrane was educated atBoston University, where he played five sports, excelling at football and basketball.[6] Although Cochrane considered himself a better football player than baseball player, professional football was not as established as Major League Baseball at the time, so he signed with thePortland Beavers of thePacific Coast League in1924.[7]
After just one season in theminor leagues, Cochrane was promoted to the major leagues, making his debut with the Philadelphia Athletics on April 14,1925 at the age of 22.[1] He made an immediate impact by becomingConnie Mack's starting catcher in place ofCy Perkins, who was considered one of the best catchers in the major leagues at the time.[8] A left-handed batter, he ran well enough that Mack would occasionally have him bat leadoff. He hit third more often, but whatever his place in the order his primary role was to get on base so that hard-hittingAl Simmons andJimmie Foxx could drive him in. In May, he tied what was the 20th-century major league record by hitting threehome runs in a game.[9] He ended his rookie season with a .331batting average and a .397on-base percentage, helping the Athletics to a second-place finish.
By the start of the1926 season, Cochrane was already considered the best catcher in the major leagues.[10] He won the1928 American LeagueMost Valuable Player Award, mostly for his leadership and defensive skills, when he led the American League inputouts and hit .293 along with 10home runs and 58runs batted in.[2][11] Cochrane was a catalyst in the Athletics'pennant-winning years of1929,1930 and1931, during which he hit .331, .357 and .349 respectively.[1][6] He played in those threeWorld Series, winning the first two, but was sometimes blamed for the loss of the1931 World Series, when theSt. Louis Cardinals, led byPepper Martin, stole eight bases and the series. However, in his bookThe Life of a Baseball Hall of Fame Catcher, author Charlie Bevis cites the Philadelphia pitching staff's carelessness in holding runners as a contributing factor.[12][13] Notwithstanding this, the blame for the 1931 World Series loss dogged Cochrane for the rest of his life.[12]
In1934, Mack started to disassemble his dynasty for financial reasons and put Cochrane on the trade bloc. He found a willing recipient in theDetroit Tigers. Their owner,Frank Navin, was also suffering from financial troubles. They had not finished higher than third since 1923, and had developed a reputation for being content with mediocrity. Attendance atNavin Field had sagged for some time. Navin had originally hoped to acquireBabe Ruth and name him player-manager, but after those talks fizzled, he turned to the A's.[14] A deal to send Cochrane to Detroit was quickly arranged, and Navin immediately named himplayer-manager.[6]
With Detroit, Cochrane cemented his reputation as a team leader, and his competitive nature drove the Tigers, who had been picked to finish in fourth or fifth place, to the1934 American League championship, their first pennant in 25 years. They won 101 games, which was the most by the team for34 years, and Cochrane was the first ever rookie manager to achieve 100 wins.[6][15][16] Cochrane routinelyplatoonedGee Walker, a right-handed batter, to spell left fielderGoose Goslin andcenter fielderJo-Jo White, who were both left-handed batters.[17] Cochrane's leadership and strategic skills won him the1934 Most Valuable Player Award, shocking considering thatLou Gehrig had won theTriple Crown, compiled a 10.0 WAR (Wins Above Replacement) rating which was more than double that of Cochrane's and utterly dominated the league in every major offensive category.[6][18] He followed this by leading the Tigers to another American League pennant in1935 and earning a victory over theChicago Cubs in the1935 World Series; it was Detroit's first undisputed world championship.[19] In late 1935, theDetroit Free Press speculated Cochrane might eventually succeed Navin as team president.[20] Due in part to his high-strung nature, as well as considerable pressure to join theBlack Legion, then-prominent in the Detroit area, he suffered a nervous breakdown during the1936 season.[6]
On May 25,1937, Cochrane suddenly had his playing career come to an end. He hit a home run in the third inning offYankeespitcherBump Hadley, but on his next plate appearance in the fifth inning, he was hit by a pitch in the head. Hospitalized for seven days, Cochrane nearly died from the injury. This accident generated a call for protective helmets for batters, although tradition won out at that time.[21] Cochrane was forced to retire at the age of 34 after doctors ordered him not to attempt to play baseball again.[16]
 | |
| Mickey Cochrane was honored alongside theretired numbers of theDetroit Tigers in 2000. |
Cochrane compiled a .320 batting average while hitting 119 home runs and 830 runs batted in over a 13-year playing career. He also had 1,652 hits, 1,041 runs scored, 333 doubles, 64 triples, 64 stolen bases and a .478 slugging percentage.[1] His .320 batting average is the highest career mark for catchers.[22] His .419on-base percentage is among the best in baseball history and is the highest all-time among catchers, aside fromNegro Leagues players, such asJosh Gibson.[2][23][24] In1932, he became the first major league catcher to score 100runs and produce 100 runs batted in during the same season.[25]
Hehit for the cycle twice in his career, on July 22,1932 and August 2,1933.[26][27][28]
In his first 11 years, he never caught fewer than 110 games.[2] He led American League catchers six times in putouts and twice each indouble playsassists andfielding percentage.[27][29]
Cochrane returned to the dugout to continue managing the Tigers but had lost his competitive fire.[16] He managed for the remainder of the 1937 season but was replaced midway through the1938 season by coach and former catcherDel Baker.[6] His all-time managerial record was 348–250, for a .582 winning percentage.[30]
| Team | Year | Regular season | Postseason | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Games | Won | Lost | Win % | Finish | Won | Lost | Win % | Result | ||
| DET | 1934 | 154 | 101 | 53 | .656 | 1st in AL | 3 | 4 | .429 | LostWorld Series (STL) |
| DET | 1935 | 151 | 93 | 58 | .616 | 1st in AL | 4 | 2 | .667 | WonWorld Series (CHC) |
| DET | 1936 | 53 | 29 | 24 | .547 | 2nd in AL | – | – | – | |
| 67 | 36 | 31 | .537 | |||||||
| DET | 1937 | 29 | 16 | 13 | .552 | Injured | – | – | – | |
| 46 | 26 | 20 | .565 | |||||||
| DET | 1938 | 98 | 47 | 51 | .480 | Fired | – | – | – | |
| Total | 598 | 348 | 250 | .582 | 7 | 6 | .538 | |||
Despite his head injury, Cochrane served in theUnited States Navy duringWorld War II.[3][6] Commissioned as alieutenant and assigned toNaval Station Great Lakes, he oversaw physical training of new recruits and coached the baseball team.[31] On July 7, 1942, Cochrane managed an All-Service team that played against an American League all-star squad at Cleveland’sMunicipal Stadium; the American League team beat the servicemen, 5–0.[31] Later in the war Cochrane, by now alieutenant commander, was assigned to a similar role in thePacific Theater.[32]
In1947, Cochrane became the third catcher enshrined in theBaseball Hall of Fame, afterRoger Bresnahan andBuck Ewing.[4][33] Long after the Athletics leftPhiladelphia forKansas City in1954 without retiring his uniform number 2, thePhiladelphia Phillies honored him by electing him to thePhiladelphia Baseball Wall of Fame atVeterans Stadium.[34] The Athletics' plaques from that display have since been moved to the Philadelphia Athletics Museum inHatboro, Pennsylvania. The Tigers honored him by renaming National Avenue (behind the third-base stands of the oldTiger Stadium) Cochrane Avenue. Despite making the Hall of Fame, the Tigers did not retire his uniform number No. 3. In 2018, the number was retired forAlan Trammell—22 years after Trammell's retirement.[35]
Cochrane briefly worked in baseball after World War II, notably serving as a coach and then asgeneral manager of the Athletics during the1950 season, Mack's last year as manager. He also owned an automobile business after his baseball days; he sold it in the mid-1950s.[36] A heavy smoker, Cochrane was only 59 when he died in 1962 inLake Forest, Illinois oflymphatic cancer.[3]
In his book,The Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract, baseball historianBill James ranked Cochrane fourth all-time among major league catchers.[37] During MLB’s Centennial celebrations in1969, he was honored as the greatest catcher of all time by being named to theAll-Time Team.[38] In1999, he was ranked 65th onThe Sporting News list of the 100 Greatest Baseball Players, and was a nominee for theMajor League Baseball All-Century Team.[39][40] Yankee Hall of Fame sluggerMickey Mantle was named after him.[2][41]
In 2013, theBob Feller Act of Valor Award honored Cochrane as one of 37 Baseball Hall of Fame members for his service in the United States Navy during World War II.[42]
· ESPN · Baseball Reference · Fangraphs · Baseball Reference (Minors) · Retrosheet · Baseball Almanac| Preceded by | Hitting for the cycle July 22, 1932 August 2, 1933 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by n/a | Detroit TigersGeneral Manager 1936–1938 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by n/a | Philadelphia AthleticsGeneral Manager 1950 | Succeeded by |
| International | |
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