Danny MacFayden
Encyclopedia
Daniel Knowles MacFayden (June 10, 1905 - August 26, 1972) was an American
starting
and relief pitcher
in Major League Baseball
. From through , he played for the Boston Red Sox
(1926–1932), New York Yankees
(1932–1934), Cincinnati Reds
(1935), Boston Braves
(1935–1939, 1943), Pittsburgh Pirates
(1940) and Washington Senators
(1941). In a 17-season career, he posted a 132-159 record with 797 strikeout
s and a 3.96 earned run average
in 2706.0 innings pitched
. His best season was , when he earned 17 victories with 86 strikeouts and a 2.87 ERA, all career bests.
He batted and pitched right-handed. His money pitch was a side-arm curve ball.
MacFayden's serious demeanor won him the nickname "Deacon Danny", though New York World-Telegram
sportswriter Dan Daniel
, a harsh critic of his play, called him "Dismal Danny" when he was with the Yankees.
but in 1920, his mother moved the family to Somerville
, located across the Charles River
from Boston. His father had died when he was four years old, and they went to live with his mother Sarah's brother, building contractor Joshua Knowles. His uncle eventually adopted Danny.
He made a name for himself as a high school athlete. He was the captain of the Somerville High School baseball team in 1923, a team that boasted three future major leaguers: MacFayden, Josh Billings
and Shanty Hogan
. On May 7, 1924, pitching for Somerville against Everett High, MacFayden struck out between 31 and 33 batters in 17 innings while giving up only four hits. He lost the game 2-1.
After graduating from Somerville High in 1924, he attended Hebron Academy
(Hebron, Maine) to prepare himself for attending college. His mother wanted him to go to Dartmouth College
. (He would return to Hebron in the 1931-32 offseason to serve as the school's hockey coach.)
He played in the semi-pro Boston Twilight League in the summers of 1923 and 1924 for the Osterville team, then for Falmouth in 1925.
owner Bob Quinn
after he saw him pitching in the Twilight League. He decided to give up going to Dartmouth as a pro baseball career offered him financial security, which would enable him to help his mother.
He did not play in the minor leagues but went straight to the Red Sox, making his debut on August 25, 1926 against the Detroit Tigers
as a reliever
. He was the first pitcher in the American League
to wear eyeglasses, which corrected for near-sightedness.
After one more relief stint, MacFayden made his first start against the legendary Walter Johnson
of the Washington Senators
on September 4, 1926. He lost 5-1, throwing a complete game. In 1928, he was the Boston Red Sox's Opening Day
pitcher, making his season debut in Griffith Stadium
in Washington, D.C.
with another native New Englander, President Calvin Coolidge
in attendance. He won 7-5.
In his five years with the Red Sox, he was a relatively mediocre pitcher with an abysmal team, though he did lead the league with four shutouts in 1928, a year he went 10-18 with a 3.62 ERA. In 1932, after going 1-10 to start the season, he was traded to the New York Yankees
for pitchers Ivy Andrews
and Hank Johnson
and $50,000 in cash. Both pitchers were on the disabled list at the time, but the trade seemed lopsided in favor of the Red Sox. The speculation was that Yankees owner Jacob Ruppert
was trying to keep MacFayden away from contending teams.
Ruppert might have been thinking of MacFayden's stellar performance against the Yankees on May 24, 1929, the year he led the league in shutouts. In a game he started at Fenway Park
, MacFayden shutout the famed "Murderer's Row", throwing a four-hitter. He did load the bases with no outs one inning, but then retired the heart of the order, Lou Gehrig
, Babe Ruth
, and Tony Lazzeri
, striking out both Gehrig and Lazzeri.
, Lou Gehrig
, Tony Lazzeri
and Bill Dickey
among position players and Hall of Fame starting pitchers Left Gomez, Herb Pennock
and Red Ruffing
on the mound went on to win 107 games and sweep the Chicago Cubs
in the World Series
. The Yankees' post-season roster carried only six pitchers, however, and MacFayden wasn't one of them.
He would never again be on a pennant winner. After the Yankees lost the pennant to the Senators in 1933, Dan Daniel of the World-Telegram blamed MacFayden, who had a dreadful 5.88 ERA as a spot starter and reliever, for the Bronx Bomber's failure to repeat as American League champions.
In '34, the Yankees again used him as a spot starter and reliever. After the 1934 season, he was purchased conditionally by the Cincinnati Reds
for $5,000 and an additional $7,500 if they chose to keep him after June 1, 1935. MacFayden told the press he was happy to be leaving the Bronx, as he did not like the way manager Joe McCarthy (another future Hall of Famer) handled him. MacFayden pitched both overhand and sidearm, claiming that his sidearm delivery was more effective, but McCarthy dictated that his pitchers use an overhand motion.
The Reds returned him to the Yankees in June 1935, and they put him on waivers. MacFayden was picked up off the waiver wire by the Boston Braves
, which paid the Yankees $4,000 for his contract. MacFayden was returning to his hometown to play for yet another abysmal team.
Ironically, his first three full seasons with the Boston Bees would be the best of his career. A harbinger of what was to come occurred on September 28, 1935, when MacFayden tied Dazzy Vance
's 11-year-old National League record for strikeouts in a nine-inning game when he fanned 15 New York Giants hitters in a game. (Hall of Famer Vance also struck-out 17 batters in a 10-inning game in 1925.)
MacFayden had his best year in 1936. His ERA of 2.87 ranked second best in the senior circuit, which along with his 17-13 record on a team that came in 6th in an eight-team league with 71 victories, won him votes for Most Valuable Player. (He came in 9th in a vote topped by Hall of Famer pitchers Carl Hubbell
of the pennant-winning New York Giants
, the N.L. M.V.P., and runner-up Dizzy Dean
of the St. Louis Cardinals
, that year's bridesmaid for the N.L. pennant.) His 1937 and '38 ERAs of 2.93 and 2.95 put him in the Top 10 for the league.
According to Charles Bukowski
's childhood friend Harold Mortenson, in the 1930s, the two played a statistics-intensive baseball game akin to Strat-O-Matic
that involved two dice and two manuals that was marketed under Danny MacFayden's name when he was with the Boston Bees.
After a losing season in 1939, the Bees traded him to the Pittsburgh Pirates
for pitcher Bill Swift and cash. For the Pirates, he was 5-4 with a 3.55 ERA, mostly as a reliever, but the organization released after the 1940 season as they considered him too old at 35. The Senators signed him as free agent, but released him on May 15, 1941 after he went 0-1 with a 10.59 ERA in five games.
MacFayden eventually returned to Boston's Braves Field in July 1943 for a last hurrah, two years after being released by the Senators. The manpower demands of World War II meant that major league baseball was bereft of major league talent. He went 2-1 with a 5.91 ERA, all but one of his ten games in relief. He was released by the Braves in April 1944, before the start of the season.
in October 1943 and became the varsity baseball coach at Bowdoin College
in Brunswick, Maine
in 1946. He also occasionally coached hockey at Bowdoin, retiring as a coach in 1970.
On August 26, 1972, after a long illness, he died at the Brunswick Hospital. He was 67 years old.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
starting
Starting pitcher
In baseball or softball, a starting pitcher is the pitcher who delivers the first pitch to the first batter of a game. A pitcher who enters the game after the first pitch of the game is a relief pitcher....
and relief pitcher
Relief pitcher
A relief pitcher or reliever is a baseball or softball pitcher who enters the game after the starting pitcher is removed due to injury, ineffectiveness, fatigue, ejection, or for other strategic reasons, such as being substituted by a pinch hitter...
in Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...
. From through , he played for the Boston Red Sox
Boston Red Sox
The Boston Red Sox are a professional baseball team based in Boston, Massachusetts, and a member of Major League Baseball’s American League Eastern Division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight charter franchises, the Red Sox's home ballpark has been Fenway Park since . The "Red Sox"...
(1926–1932), New York Yankees
New York Yankees
The New York Yankees are a professional baseball team based in the The Bronx, New York. They compete in Major League Baseball in the American League's East Division...
(1932–1934), Cincinnati Reds
Cincinnati Reds
The Cincinnati Reds are a Major League Baseball team based in Cincinnati, Ohio. They are members of the National League Central Division. The club was established in 1882 as a charter member of the American Association and joined the National League in 1890....
(1935), Boston Braves
Atlanta Braves
The Atlanta Braves are a professional baseball club based in Atlanta, Georgia. The Braves are a member of the Eastern Division of Major League Baseball's National League. The Braves have played in Turner Field since 1997....
(1935–1939, 1943), Pittsburgh Pirates
Pittsburgh Pirates
The Pittsburgh Pirates are a Major League Baseball club based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. They play in the Central Division of the National League, and are five-time World Series Champions...
(1940) and Washington Senators
Minnesota Twins
The Minnesota Twins are a professional baseball team based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. They play in the Central Division of Major League Baseball's American League. The team is named after the Twin Cities area of Minneapolis and St. Paul. They played in Metropolitan Stadium from 1961 to 1981 and the...
(1941). In a 17-season career, he posted a 132-159 record with 797 strikeout
Strikeout
In baseball or softball, a strikeout or strike-out occurs when a batter receives three strikes during his time at bat. A strikeout is a statistic recorded for both pitchers and batters....
s and a 3.96 earned run average
Earned run average
In baseball statistics, earned run average is the mean of earned runs given up by a pitcher per nine innings pitched. It is determined by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the number of innings pitched and multiplying by nine...
in 2706.0 innings pitched
Innings pitched
In baseball, innings pitched are the number of innings a pitcher has completed, measured by the number of batters and baserunners that are put out while the pitcher on the pitching mound in a game. Three outs made is equal to one inning pitched. One out counts as one-third of an inning, and two...
. His best season was , when he earned 17 victories with 86 strikeouts and a 2.87 ERA, all career bests.
He batted and pitched right-handed. His money pitch was a side-arm curve ball.
MacFayden's serious demeanor won him the nickname "Deacon Danny", though New York World-Telegram
New York World-Telegram
The New York World-Telegram, later known as the New York World-Telegram and Sun, was a New York City newspaper from 1931 to 1966.-History:...
sportswriter Dan Daniel
Dan Daniel (sportswriter)
Dan Daniel , born Daniel Margowitz, was an American sportswriter whose prolific contributions over a long period led him to be called the Dean of American Baseball Writers....
, a harsh critic of his play, called him "Dismal Danny" when he was with the Yankees.
Early life
MacFayden was born in North Truro, Massachusetts on Cape CodCape Cod
Cape Cod, often referred to locally as simply the Cape, is a cape in the easternmost portion of the state of Massachusetts, in the Northeastern United States...
but in 1920, his mother moved the family to Somerville
Somerville, Massachusetts
Somerville is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, located just north of Boston. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 75,754 and was the most densely populated municipality in New England. It is also the 17th most densely populated incorporated place in...
, located across the Charles River
Charles River
The Charles River is an long river that flows in an overall northeasterly direction in eastern Massachusetts, USA. From its source in Hopkinton, the river travels through 22 cities and towns until reaching the Atlantic Ocean at Boston...
from Boston. His father had died when he was four years old, and they went to live with his mother Sarah's brother, building contractor Joshua Knowles. His uncle eventually adopted Danny.
He made a name for himself as a high school athlete. He was the captain of the Somerville High School baseball team in 1923, a team that boasted three future major leaguers: MacFayden, Josh Billings
Josh Billings
Josh Billings was the pen name of 19th century American humorist Henry Wheeler Shaw . He was perhaps the second most famous humor writer and lecturer in the United States in the second half of the 19th century after Mark Twain, although his reputation has not endured so well with later...
and Shanty Hogan
Shanty Hogan
James Francis "Shanty" Hogan was a Major League Baseball catcher from 1925 to 1937. Hogan was listed at 6'1", 240 pounds — an exceptionally large player, especially for his era. Due to this, there are many anecdotes relating to Hogan and food...
. On May 7, 1924, pitching for Somerville against Everett High, MacFayden struck out between 31 and 33 batters in 17 innings while giving up only four hits. He lost the game 2-1.
After graduating from Somerville High in 1924, he attended Hebron Academy
Hebron Academy
Hebron Academy, founded in 1804, is a small, independent, college preparatory boarding and day school for boys and girls in grades six through postgraduate.-History:...
(Hebron, Maine) to prepare himself for attending college. His mother wanted him to go to Dartmouth College
Dartmouth College
Dartmouth College is a private, Ivy League university in Hanover, New Hampshire, United States. The institution comprises a liberal arts college, Dartmouth Medical School, Thayer School of Engineering, and the Tuck School of Business, as well as 19 graduate programs in the arts and sciences...
. (He would return to Hebron in the 1931-32 offseason to serve as the school's hockey coach.)
He played in the semi-pro Boston Twilight League in the summers of 1923 and 1924 for the Osterville team, then for Falmouth in 1925.
Boston Red Sox
MacFayden was signed by Boston Red SoxBoston Red Sox
The Boston Red Sox are a professional baseball team based in Boston, Massachusetts, and a member of Major League Baseball’s American League Eastern Division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight charter franchises, the Red Sox's home ballpark has been Fenway Park since . The "Red Sox"...
owner Bob Quinn
Bob Quinn (baseball)
James Aloysius Robert Quinn was an American executive in Major League Baseball who became renowned for his management of four different franchises....
after he saw him pitching in the Twilight League. He decided to give up going to Dartmouth as a pro baseball career offered him financial security, which would enable him to help his mother.
He did not play in the minor leagues but went straight to the Red Sox, making his debut on August 25, 1926 against the Detroit Tigers
Detroit Tigers
The Detroit Tigers are a Major League Baseball team located in Detroit, Michigan. One of the American League's eight charter franchises, the club was founded in Detroit in as part of the Western League. The Tigers have won four World Series championships and have won the American League pennant...
as a reliever
Relief pitcher
A relief pitcher or reliever is a baseball or softball pitcher who enters the game after the starting pitcher is removed due to injury, ineffectiveness, fatigue, ejection, or for other strategic reasons, such as being substituted by a pinch hitter...
. He was the first pitcher in the American League
American League
The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, or simply the American League , is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western League, a minor league based in the Great Lakes states, which eventually aspired to major...
to wear eyeglasses, which corrected for near-sightedness.
After one more relief stint, MacFayden made his first start against the legendary Walter Johnson
Walter Johnson
Walter Perry Johnson , nicknamed "Barney" and "The Big Train", was a Major League Baseball right-handed pitcher. He played his entire 21-year baseball career for the Washington Senators...
of the Washington Senators
Washington Senators
There have been several baseball teams that have played as the Washington Senators, including:*an American League baseball team based in Washington, D.C. from 1901 to 1960, that moved to Minneapolis-St...
on September 4, 1926. He lost 5-1, throwing a complete game. In 1928, he was the Boston Red Sox's Opening Day
Opening Day
Opening Day is the day on which professional baseball leagues begin their regular season. For Major League Baseball and most of the minor leagues, this day falls during the first week of April. For baseball fans, Opening Day serves as a symbol of rebirth; writer Thomas Boswell once penned a book...
pitcher, making his season debut in Griffith Stadium
Griffith Stadium
Griffith Stadium was a sports stadium that stood in Washington, D.C. from 1911 to 1965, between Georgia Avenue and 5th Street, and between W Street and Florida Avenue, NW. An earlier wooden baseball park had been built on the same site in 1891...
in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
with another native New Englander, President Calvin Coolidge
Calvin Coolidge
John Calvin Coolidge, Jr. was the 30th President of the United States . A Republican lawyer from Vermont, Coolidge worked his way up the ladder of Massachusetts state politics, eventually becoming governor of that state...
in attendance. He won 7-5.
In his five years with the Red Sox, he was a relatively mediocre pitcher with an abysmal team, though he did lead the league with four shutouts in 1928, a year he went 10-18 with a 3.62 ERA. In 1932, after going 1-10 to start the season, he was traded to the New York Yankees
New York Yankees
The New York Yankees are a professional baseball team based in the The Bronx, New York. They compete in Major League Baseball in the American League's East Division...
for pitchers Ivy Andrews
Ivy Andrews
Ivy Paul Andrews was a pitcher in Major League Baseball. From through , he played for the New York Yankees , Boston Red Sox , St. Louis Browns and Cleveland Indians . Andrew batted and threw right-handed...
and Hank Johnson
Hank Johnson (baseball)
Henry Ward Johnson was a pitcher who played in Major League Baseball between the 1925 and 1939 seasons. Listed at 5 ft 11 in, 175 lb, Johnson batted and threw right-handed...
and $50,000 in cash. Both pitchers were on the disabled list at the time, but the trade seemed lopsided in favor of the Red Sox. The speculation was that Yankees owner Jacob Ruppert
Jacob Ruppert
Jacob Ruppert, Jr. , sometimes referred to as Jake Ruppert, was a National Guard colonel; a U.S. Representative from New York; and brewery owner, who went on to own the New York Yankees...
was trying to keep MacFayden away from contending teams.
Ruppert might have been thinking of MacFayden's stellar performance against the Yankees on May 24, 1929, the year he led the league in shutouts. In a game he started at Fenway Park
Fenway Park
Fenway Park is a baseball park near Kenmore Square in Boston, Massachusetts. Located at 4 Yawkey Way, it has served as the home ballpark of the Boston Red Sox baseball club since it opened in 1912, and is the oldest Major League Baseball stadium currently in use. It is one of two "classic"...
, MacFayden shutout the famed "Murderer's Row", throwing a four-hitter. He did load the bases with no outs one inning, but then retired the heart of the order, Lou Gehrig
Lou Gehrig
Henry Louis "Lou" Gehrig , nicknamed "The Iron Horse" for his durability, was an American Major League Baseball first baseman. He played his entire 17-year baseball career for the New York Yankees . Gehrig set several major league records. He holds the record for most career grand slams...
, Babe Ruth
Babe Ruth
George Herman Ruth, Jr. , best known as "Babe" Ruth and nicknamed "the Bambino" and "the Sultan of Swat", was an American Major League baseball player from 1914–1935...
, and Tony Lazzeri
Tony Lazzeri
Anthony Michael "Tony" Lazzeri was an American Major League Baseball player during the 1920s and 1930s, predominantly with the New York Yankees. He was part of the famed "Murderers' Row" Yankee batting lineup of the late 1920s , along with Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, and Bob Meusel...
, striking out both Gehrig and Lazzeri.
New York Yankees
In his 17 games for The Bronx Bombers in the 1932 season, 15 were starts, and he went 7-5 with a 3.93 ERA. The Yankees, anchored by Hall of Famers Babe RuthBabe Ruth
George Herman Ruth, Jr. , best known as "Babe" Ruth and nicknamed "the Bambino" and "the Sultan of Swat", was an American Major League baseball player from 1914–1935...
, Lou Gehrig
Lou Gehrig
Henry Louis "Lou" Gehrig , nicknamed "The Iron Horse" for his durability, was an American Major League Baseball first baseman. He played his entire 17-year baseball career for the New York Yankees . Gehrig set several major league records. He holds the record for most career grand slams...
, Tony Lazzeri
Tony Lazzeri
Anthony Michael "Tony" Lazzeri was an American Major League Baseball player during the 1920s and 1930s, predominantly with the New York Yankees. He was part of the famed "Murderers' Row" Yankee batting lineup of the late 1920s , along with Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, and Bob Meusel...
and Bill Dickey
Bill Dickey
William Malcolm Dickey was a Major League Baseball catcher and manager.He played his entire 19-year baseball career with the New York Yankees . During Dickey's playing career, the Yankees went to the World Series nine times, winning eight championships...
among position players and Hall of Fame starting pitchers Left Gomez, Herb Pennock
Herb Pennock
Herbert Jefferis Pennock was a left-handed Major League Baseball pitcher best known for his time spent with the star-studded New York Yankee teams of the mid to late 1920s and early 1930s. Pennock won two World Series championships with the Red Sox and then four World Series championships with the...
and Red Ruffing
Red Ruffing
Charles Herbert "Red" Ruffing was a Major League Baseball pitcher most remembered for his time with the highly successful New York Yankees teams of the 1930s and 1940s...
on the mound went on to win 107 games and sweep the Chicago Cubs
Chicago Cubs
The Chicago Cubs are a professional baseball team located in Chicago, Illinois. They are members of the Central Division of Major League Baseball's National League. They are one of two Major League clubs based in Chicago . The Cubs are also one of the two remaining charter members of the National...
in the World Series
1932 World Series
The 1932 World Series was played between the New York Yankees and the Chicago Cubs , with the Yankees holding home field advantage. The Yankees swept the Cubs, four games to none...
. The Yankees' post-season roster carried only six pitchers, however, and MacFayden wasn't one of them.
He would never again be on a pennant winner. After the Yankees lost the pennant to the Senators in 1933, Dan Daniel of the World-Telegram blamed MacFayden, who had a dreadful 5.88 ERA as a spot starter and reliever, for the Bronx Bomber's failure to repeat as American League champions.
In '34, the Yankees again used him as a spot starter and reliever. After the 1934 season, he was purchased conditionally by the Cincinnati Reds
Cincinnati Reds
The Cincinnati Reds are a Major League Baseball team based in Cincinnati, Ohio. They are members of the National League Central Division. The club was established in 1882 as a charter member of the American Association and joined the National League in 1890....
for $5,000 and an additional $7,500 if they chose to keep him after June 1, 1935. MacFayden told the press he was happy to be leaving the Bronx, as he did not like the way manager Joe McCarthy (another future Hall of Famer) handled him. MacFayden pitched both overhand and sidearm, claiming that his sidearm delivery was more effective, but McCarthy dictated that his pitchers use an overhand motion.
The Reds returned him to the Yankees in June 1935, and they put him on waivers. MacFayden was picked up off the waiver wire by the Boston Braves
Boston Braves
Boston Braves may refer to any of the following American professional sports teams:*Boston Braves , the Major League Baseball team now known as the Atlanta Braves...
, which paid the Yankees $4,000 for his contract. MacFayden was returning to his hometown to play for yet another abysmal team.
Back to Boston
He would play five season with Boston's National League team through the end of the 1939 season. The team, which was partly owned by Bill Quinn, the former Red Sox owner who first signed MacFayden, started calling itself the Boston Bees in 1936 in a bid to get the fans to forget their dismal performance.Ironically, his first three full seasons with the Boston Bees would be the best of his career. A harbinger of what was to come occurred on September 28, 1935, when MacFayden tied Dazzy Vance
Dazzy Vance
Charles Arthur "Dazzy" Vance was a star Major League Baseball starting pitcher during the 1920s.-Biography:...
's 11-year-old National League record for strikeouts in a nine-inning game when he fanned 15 New York Giants hitters in a game. (Hall of Famer Vance also struck-out 17 batters in a 10-inning game in 1925.)
MacFayden had his best year in 1936. His ERA of 2.87 ranked second best in the senior circuit, which along with his 17-13 record on a team that came in 6th in an eight-team league with 71 victories, won him votes for Most Valuable Player. (He came in 9th in a vote topped by Hall of Famer pitchers Carl Hubbell
Carl Hubbell
Carl Owen Hubbell was an American baseball player. He was a member of the New York Giants in the National League from 1928 to 1943, and remained on the Giants' payroll for the rest of his life, long after their move to San Francisco.Twice voted the National League's Most Valuable Player, Hubbell...
of the pennant-winning New York Giants
New York Giants
The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in East Rutherford, New Jersey, representing the New York City metropolitan area. The Giants are currently members of the Eastern Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...
, the N.L. M.V.P., and runner-up Dizzy Dean
Dizzy Dean
Jay Hanna "Dizzy" Dean was an American Major League Baseball pitcher. He was the last National League pitcher to win 30 games in one season. Dean was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1953....
of the St. Louis Cardinals
St. Louis Cardinals
The St. Louis Cardinals are a professional baseball team based in St. Louis, Missouri. They are members of the Central Division in the National League of Major League Baseball. The Cardinals have won eleven World Series championships, the most of any National League team, and second overall only to...
, that year's bridesmaid for the N.L. pennant.) His 1937 and '38 ERAs of 2.93 and 2.95 put him in the Top 10 for the league.
According to Charles Bukowski
Charles Bukowski
Henry Charles Bukowski was an American poet, novelist and short story writer. His writing was influenced by the social, cultural and economic ambience of his home city of Los Angeles...
's childhood friend Harold Mortenson, in the 1930s, the two played a statistics-intensive baseball game akin to Strat-O-Matic
Strat-o-Matic
Strat-O-Matic is a game company based in Glen Head, New York, that develops and publishes sports simulation games. It produces tabletop baseball, football, basketball, and ice hockey simulations, as well as personal computer adaptations of each, but it is primarily known for its baseball...
that involved two dice and two manuals that was marketed under Danny MacFayden's name when he was with the Boston Bees.
After a losing season in 1939, the Bees traded him to the Pittsburgh Pirates
Pittsburgh Pirates
The Pittsburgh Pirates are a Major League Baseball club based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. They play in the Central Division of the National League, and are five-time World Series Champions...
for pitcher Bill Swift and cash. For the Pirates, he was 5-4 with a 3.55 ERA, mostly as a reliever, but the organization released after the 1940 season as they considered him too old at 35. The Senators signed him as free agent, but released him on May 15, 1941 after he went 0-1 with a 10.59 ERA in five games.
MacFayden eventually returned to Boston's Braves Field in July 1943 for a last hurrah, two years after being released by the Senators. The manpower demands of World War II meant that major league baseball was bereft of major league talent. He went 2-1 with a 5.91 ERA, all but one of his ten games in relief. He was released by the Braves in April 1944, before the start of the season.
Post-Baseball Career
MacFayden continued to work as the Hebron Academy as hockey coach into the early 1940s. He also had worked in insurance in some off-seasons. He was appointed Maine's commissioner of amateur baseball in the summer of 1942, the first year he was out of pro baseball since being signed by the Red Sox. He became a teacher at Vermont AcademyVermont Academy
Vermont Academy is an American coeducational boarding/day school and college preparatory school for grades nine through twelve and also offers acceptance for students seeking a post-graduate year. Founded in 1876, it is located in Saxtons River, Vermont. The school is coeducational, and...
in October 1943 and became the varsity baseball coach at Bowdoin College
Bowdoin College
Bowdoin College , founded in 1794, is an elite private liberal arts college located in the coastal Maine town of Brunswick, Maine. As of 2011, U.S. News and World Report ranks Bowdoin 6th among liberal arts colleges in the United States. At times, it was ranked as high as 4th in the country. It is...
in Brunswick, Maine
Brunswick, Maine
Brunswick is a town in Cumberland County, Maine, United States. The population was 20,278 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Portland-South Portland-Biddeford metropolitan area. Brunswick is home to Bowdoin College, the Bowdoin College Museum of Art, the Peary-MacMillan Arctic Museum, , and the...
in 1946. He also occasionally coached hockey at Bowdoin, retiring as a coach in 1970.
On August 26, 1972, after a long illness, he died at the Brunswick Hospital. He was 67 years old.
Highlights
- Led American LeagueAmerican LeagueThe American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, or simply the American League , is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western League, a minor league based in the Great Lakes states, which eventually aspired to major...
in shutoutShutoutIn team sports, a shutout refers to a game in which one team prevents the opposing team from scoring. While possible in most major sports, they are highly improbable in some sports, such as basketball....
s (1929, four) - Finished ninth in National League MVPMLB Most Valuable Player AwardThe Major League Baseball Most Valuable Player Award is an annual Major League Baseball award, given to one outstanding player in the American League and one in the National League. Since 1931, it has been awarded by the Baseball Writers Association of America...
vote (1936) - On September 28, 1935, struck out 15 New York GiantsSan Francisco GiantsThe San Francisco Giants are a Major League Baseball team based in San Francisco, California, playing in the National League West Division....
hitters in a nine-inning game, equaling Dazzy Vance's 1924 National LeagueNational LeagueThe National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League , is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball, and the world's oldest extant professional team sports league. Founded on February 2, 1876, to replace the National Association of Professional...
record.