Lew McCarty

George Lewis McCarty

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 11½", Weight 192 lb.

• Debut August 30, 1913
• Final Game April 13, 1921
• Born November 17, 1888 in Milton, PA USA
• Died June 19, 1930 in Cumru Township, PA USA

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Biographical Information

George Lewis "Lew" McCarty played nine seasons in the major leagues, all in the National League. Primarily a catcher, he never appeared in more than 90 games in a season. His best year with the bat was 1916, when he hit .339 in 80 games split between two teams. Since Hal Chase led the National League with a .339 batting average that year, Lew was right there and would have tied for the leadership if he had appeared in more games.

McCarty was born in Milton, PA in 1888. He is the only major leaguer (through 2011) born in Milton. Lew played three seasons for Newark before coming to the majors, attracting attention in 1913 when he hit .357 in 40 games.

After playing nine games for the Brooklyn Superbas in 1913, he stuck in the majors. He became the regular catcher for the Brooklyn Robins in 1914, in the first year when Wilbert Robinson, himself a famous catcher, became Brooklyn's manager, beginning a long string of years in the position. McCarty was two years older than teammate Casey Stengel.

In 1915 Lew and Otto Miller split the catching duties almost equally. Lew appeared in 81 games at the position while Otto was in 83. Lew, however, had more at-bats that year overall than Otto, and was a slightly better batter. The following year, 1916, Lew hit well but was traded on August 25 for Fred Merkle. The Robins were in first place at the time and went on to win the 1916 pennant. Manager Robinson could afford to trade Lew because he had Chief Meyers behind the plate as well as Lew and Miller, and he had been using Lew some at first base, which was Merkle's position. Lew went on to hit .397 during the remainder of the season with the New York Giants.

McCarty stayed with the Giants from 1917 to 1919 and part of 1920. He appeared in the 1917 World Series, hitting .400 in five at-bats. He became the Giants' # 1 catcher in 1918 and kept the job the following year, both years when the Giants finished in second place in the league. Not hitting well in 1920, he became a backup and was sold in July to the St. Louis Cardinals, for whom he appeared in 5 games. He had done more and more pinch-hitting during 1919 and 1920. He closed out his major league career with one more game for the Cardinals in 1921.

Lew continued to have a minor league career from 1921 to 1927. He put in three seasons with Kansas City (Dutch Zwilling was a teammate all three years), and parts of two with each of Baltimore and Durham. He did some managing in the minors in 1926 and 1927, guiding the Durham Bulls and Richmond Colts.

He died young, in 1930.