Barney McCosky
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William Barney McCosky (April 11, 1917 - September 6, 1996) was a center fielder/left fielder in Major League Baseball. From 1939 through 1953, he played for the Detroit Tigers (1939-42, 1946[start]), Philadelphia Athletics (1946[end]-1948, 1950-1951[start]), Cincinnati Reds (1951[mid]) and Cleveland Indians (1951[end])-1953). McCosky batted left handed and threw right handed. He was born in Coal Run, Pennsylvania.
[edit] Career
In an 11-season career, McCosky was a .312 hitter with 24 home runs and 397 RBI in 1170 games played.
McCosky was a good contact hitter who hit over .300 in six of his first seven seasons. A fine outfielder with a strong throwing arm, he collected a .984 fielding average with only 41 errors in 2579 chances His most productive season came for the 1940 Detroit Tigers American League champions, when he posted career-highs in batting average (.340, sixth in AL), hits (200, tied for first), triples (19, first), runs (123, third) and doubles (39). In the World Series, he hit .304 (7-for-23) with five runs as Detroit lost to the Cincinnati Reds in seven games.
McCosky lost three years in the military (1943-45) and returned to Detroit in 1946. After a disappointing .198 start, he was traded to the Philadelphia Athletics for George Kell. McCosky hit .354 the rest of the season and posted .326 in 1948. He lost all of 1949 after a back injury, but hit .323 with 95 runs a year later.
On April 26, 1951, with a home run, McCosky broke up a no-hitter bid of Washington Senators Connie Marrero. McCosky's homer was the only hit against Marrero, who had a 2–1 victory over the Athletics. The rest of the season McCosky divided his playing time between the Cincinnati Reds and Cleveland Indians.
In 1949 McCosky played his last major league season for Cleveland. Six times he was considered in the American League MVP vote (1939-42, 1947-48). In 1995, he was inducted into the National Polish-American Hall of Fame.
McCosky died in Venice, Florida, at age 79.
