Jerry McCarthy

Jerome Francis McCarthy

• Bats Left, Throws Left
• Height 6' 1", Weight 205 lb.
• School University of Pennsylvania
• Debut June 19, 1948
• Final Game June 23, 1948
• Born May 23, 1923 in Brooklyn, NY USA
• Died October 3, 1965 in Oceanside, NY USA

BR page

Biographical Information

Jerry McCarthy was a first baseman for three years (1947-1949) - two in college (1947-1948); two in the minors (1948-1949); and a cup of coffee with the St. Louis Browns in 1948. McCarthy entered the University of Pennsylvania in 1941 and played varsity football as a sophomore, but then left school to serve in the Army Air Corps. He served in the U.S. Army Air Corps during World War II from 1943 until 1945 (BN).

When he returned to Penn in 1946, he rejoined the varsity football team as a lineman, and served as captain. He also played first base on Penn's varsity baseball team, serving as its captain in 1948. McCarthy was honored by his senior class as Bowl Man and received his Bachelor of Science Degree in Economics in 1948.

He was signed by the Browns as an amateur free agent on June 15, 1948 (date given is approximate. Exact date is uncertain.) He broke into Organized Baseball in 1948 at age 25 with Columbus in the South Atlantic League and almost immediately was promoted, playing June 19, 1948, with the Browns. He played first base in two games for the Browns and finished his big-league career four days later.

He returned to the minors with the Elmira Pioneers in the Eastern League (1948); San Antonio in the Texas League (1949); and Springfield in the Three-I League (1949), ending his baseball career at age 26.

McCarthy later became an advertising salesman for the Army Times Publishing Company, in New York City. Living in Freeport, Long Island, he died at age 42 in Oceanside, NY from a heart attack on October 3, 1965 and is buried at Holy Rood Cemetery in Westbury, NY.

==Awards and honors== Named Bowl Man at the University of Pennsylvania, 1948

Sources

Principal sources for Jerry McCarthy include newspaper obituaries (OB), government Veteran records (VA,CM,CW), Stars & Stripes (S&S), Sporting Life (SL), The Sporting News (TSN), The Sports Encyclopedia:Baseball 2006 by David Neft & Richard Cohen (N&C), old Who's Who in Baseballs (none) (WW), old Baseball Registers (none) (BR) , old Daguerreotypes by TSN (none) (DAG), Stars&Stripes (S&S), The Baseball Necrology by Bill Lee (BN), Pat Doyle's Professional Ballplayer DataBase (PD), The Baseball Library (BL), Baseball in World War II Europe by Gary Bedingfield (GB) and records at the University of Pennsylvania and independent research by Walter Kephart (WK) and Frank Russo (FR) and others.

Related Sites

• Jerry McCarthy at the Baseball Almanac
• Bio at Baseball Page
• Also see obituary at Jerry McCarthy obituary
• and a full Bibliography from SABR's The Baseball Index (TBI)