McCormick was one of the game’s first and best pinch-hit specialists. He batted .301 (28-for-93) off the bench and led the NL with 11 hits in 30 pinch at-bats for the Giants in 1912.
McCormick was the runner on third base whose run didn’t count because of Fred Merkle‘s famous “Bonehead Play” (September 23, 1908, Giants versus Cubs). He left baseball several times to work as an engineer in the steel industry and coached at Bucknell (his alma mater) and at the U.S. Military Academy. Called “Moose” for his eight-foot stride, as an old-timer McCormick would ink-stamp a little moosehead under his autograph.
