Cal McVey
| Cal McVey | |||
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| First baseman/Catcher/Outfielder | |||
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Born: August 30, 1849 Montrose, Iowa |
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Died: August 20, 1926 (aged 76) San Francisco, California |
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| MLB debut | |||
| May 5, 1871, for the Boston Red Stockings | |||
| Last MLB appearance | |||
| September 30, 1879, for the Cincinnati Reds | |||
| MLB statistics | |||
| Batting average | .346 | ||
| Runs scored | 555 | ||
| Runs batted in | 448 | ||
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| Career highlights and awards | |||
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Calvin Alexander McVey (August 30, 1849 – August 20, 1926) was a professional baseball player during the 1860s and 1870s. McVey's importance to the game stems from his play on two of the earliest professional baseball teams, the original and the National Association Boston Red Stockings. He also played on the inaugural National League pennant-winning team, the 1876 .
He has the NA record for most career RBIs (276).
Cal McVey was born in rural Montrose, Iowa and moved to Indianapolis at eleven, where he learned baseball and soon excelled at the game, playing for the Western and Active clubs in the National Association of Base Ball Players (NABBP). With McVey usually pitching, the Actives in 1868 defeated local rivals, lost to the three strong Eastern teams that toured the West, and won one game in six against Cincinnati teams. Despite a lopsided 7–54 defeat by the , that club later hired him to play in 1869 for $700 and he served as the regular right fielder for both of its storied seasons.
The Cincinnati Daily Times described Cal McVey in this way: "He is powerfully built, with broad shoulders and barrel chest...handsome though shy, and is a favorite of the ladies. He is very conscientious and a hard worker...a good fielder, but his strength is with the ash in his hands...he is a long...good thrower...and he doesn't drink."
McVey was directly in the middle of the most controversial game of the ' reported 84-game winning streak, 1869 and 1870. Playing the Troy Haymakers, with the game tied 17 to 17, McVey fouled off a pitch the catcher claimed to have caught on the first bounce. That would have been an out but the umpire disagreed. In the ensuing argument, Troy left the field and the game was awarded to Cincinnati on forfeit.
With the Red Stockings going out of business, manager Harry Wright signed to organize and lead a team in Boston. He hired McVey, Charlie Gould, and George Wright to join him, composing almost half the team that just missed winning the first National Association pennant. With some personnel changes, the Boston Red Stockings won the other four NA pennants, dominating so severely in 1875 that they helped provoke a new league. McVey served Boston two seasons as the first catcher, otherwise in the outfield, followed by one season managing in Baltimore and two more seasons in Boston, now an outfielder and second catcher.
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Wikipedia