Windy McCall

John William McCall

• Bats Left, Throws Left
• Height 6' 0", Weight 180 lb.
• School University of San Francisco
• High School Balboa High School (San Francisco)
• Debut April 25, 1948
• Final Game May 5, 1957
• Born July 18, 1925 in San Francisco, CA USA
• Died February 5, 2015 in Tucson, AZ USA

BR page

Biographical Information

Twenty-one-year-old Windy McCall was signed as an amateur free agent by the Boston Red Sox before the 1947 season. He had earlier served in the United States Marine Corps during World War II, seeing action at Iwo Jima and Okinawa. The lefthander was assigned to the Roanoke Red Sox of the class B Piedmont League and went 17-9 with a 3.78 ERA during his first year in pro baseball. In 1948 the Red Sox gave Windy a taste of the big leagues when he appeared in one game, lost it, and then spent the rest of the season with the Louisville Colonels of the American Association where he went 9-12 with a 4.67 ERA. Windy got another short look with Boston in 1949, appearing in five games with no decisions. He was sent back down to Louisville where he was 5-2, but wound up with the Seattle Rainiers of the Pacific Coast League, going 0-5 and ended 1949 with a 5-7 record. On October 13th Windy was purchased by the Pittsburgh Pirates from the Red Sox.

The Pirates gave him a six-inning look in 1950, again with no decisions, and he spent the rest of the season with the AAA Indianapolis Indians going 7-7 but with a 5.28 ERA. Windy spent the next couple of years in the minors and showed back up with the New York Giants in 1954. He was used primarily out of the bullpen through the team's final seasons in New York. McCall was 2-5 plus a couple of saves for the World Champions in 1954, but he did not pitch in the World Series. He hung with the Giants for the rest of his major league career, finishing out in 1957 with a 11-15 record and a 4.22 ERA for his seven-year hitch in the major leagues.

McCall spent the rest of his pro baseball days in the high minors, finishing up with the AAA Miami Marlins in 1959 at age 33 with a 10-year career minor league record of 80 wins and 70 losses with a 4.36 ERA. Formerly a corporate salesman for Bekins Van and Storage in San Francisco, CA, Windy moved to to Sierra Vista, AZ in the early 1980s where he was in real estate and property management. As of 2006, he was living in Arizona. In late 2016, the SABR Biographical Committee reported that he was likely deceased, but that details of his passing were still missing. It was confirmed a few months later that he had died in 2015.

Notable Achievements

• Won a World Series with the New York Giants in 1954 (he did not play in the World Series)

Sources

Baseball Players of the 1950s

Related Sites

• Windy McCall at the SABR Bio Project
• BR Minors page