Dan McGinn

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Daniel Michael McGinn (born November 29, 1943 in Omaha, Nebraska) is a former left-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball. He was drafted by the Cincinnati Reds in the 1st round (10th pick) of the 1966 amateur draft (Secondary Phase), and later drafted by the Montreal Expos from the Reds as the 27th pick in the 1968 expansion draft. He played for the Reds (1968), Expos (1969-1971), and Chicago Cubs (1972).

McGinn hit the first home run in Montreal Expos history. It took place at Shea Stadium in their first game...April 8, 1969. McGinn came to bat in the top of the 4th and launched a solo shot against New York Mets Hall of Famer Tom Seaver.

He also was the winning pitcher in the first MLB game ever played in Canada. On April 14, 1969, McGinn earned the W with 5.1 innings of shutout relief as Montreal defeated the St. Louis Cardinals 8-7.

Other career highlights include:

a three-hit, complete game shutout against Tom Seaver and the Mets in just his second major league start (May 11, 1970)
a three-hit, complete game shutout against the Pittsburgh Pirates (August 3, 1970)
held All-Stars Dick Allen, Bobby Bonds, Nate Colbert, Ralph Garr, Steve Garvey, Cleon Jones, Tim McCarver, Manny Mota, Vada Pinson, and Jimmy Wynn to a .027 collective batting average (2-for-73)
held Hall of Famers Hank Aaron, Johnny Bench, Lou Brock, and Willie Stargell to a .194 collective batting average (12-for-62)

During his career, he gave up 225 walks in just 408.2 innings, for a BB/9IP of 4.95, much higher than the National League average at that time. However, with 293 strikeouts, his K/9IP was 6.45, which was higher than the National League average.

Most often used in relief, McGinn appeared in a total of 210 games (28 starts) during his five MLB seasons. He finished his career with 15 wins, 30 losses, 10 saves, and 64 games finished, with an earned run average of 5.11.