The original "Iron Man" -- HOF'er Joe McGinnity

With apologies to Lou Gehrig and Cal Ripken, and decades before the second Black Sabbath album or even the modern day three-sport endurance test that bills itself as the "iron man" triathalon, a major league pitcher in the first few years of the past century was the sport's original "Iron Man". For more than 100 years have passed since right-hander Joe McGinnity established a record for pitching endurance that stands to this day.

Beginning in 1899, while with Baltimore(then a member of the National League), McGinnity began a stretch of leading all major league hurlers in innings pitched for five of the next six seasons. During this same stretch, he notched more than 380 innings four times. The highlight were his back-to-back seasons of 1903-1904 for the New York Giants where he had more than 400 innings pitched. In August of 1903 alone, McGinnity completed and won both games of a doubleheader three times. Perhaps that's why his mark of 434 innings pitched in 1903 remains the all-time high water mark by a pitcher in the major leagues in the 20th Century. But all those innings also produced lots of victories. Between 1899 and 1906, McGinnity had eight consecutive seasons with 20 or more wins, four of which included at least 28 victories. But for all his gaudy win totals, it was McGinnity's knack for eating up innings at a voracious pace that set him apart from most of his his contemporaries.

His best season was clearly 1904, when he compiled a record of 35-8 which included 9 shutouts and a league -best ERA of 1.61. That year, McGinnity's work early in the season demonstrated just how dominating he could be. He was undefeated in his first 14 starts, winning 12 and having to settle for a pair of ties. With games of this era routinely starting in the late afternoon(often 3PM), and long before major league stadiums had lights, games in April and May that went into extra innings were frequently called on account of impending darkness. In McGinnity's case, his second start of the season on April 19 against the Phillies last 15 innings before ending 1-1. McGinnity threw all 15. In early June, facing the Reds at the Polo Grounds, McGinnity lasted all 11 innnings in a game called with the score 2-2. Otherwise he was perfect heading into a June showdown with the Chicago Cubs in New York. In fact, his first 14 starts of 1904 had already produced five shutouts and just 17 opposition runs in 133 innings of work.

The New York papers were full of stories about McGinnity's undefeated streak and as result, more than 38,000 people jammed their way into the Polo Grounds on June 11 to see their ace take on the visiting Cubs, whose 27-14 record left them just behind the first-place Giants, who'd gotten off to a torrid 29-13 start. McGinnity was matched up with the Cubs' Bob Wicker, a right-hander who'd won 19 games for Chicago in 1903. The fans were treated to a pitchers' duel that did not dissapoint. Wicker struck out nine Giants and allowed just two hits, both singles, through the first 11 innings as the game remained scoreless. McGinnity was also putting up zeroes as he scattered seven hits(six of them singles) and walked no one throught the first 11 frames. But the Cub's Frank Chance led off the12th with a sharp single and reached third with two outs before Johnny Evers brought him home with the game's only run. Wicker quickly retired the Giants in order in the bottom of the 12th to earn the 1-0 victory as the home crowd sat in stunned silence. But so appreciative of the efforts of both pitchers were the Giants fans that Wicker was carried off the field on the shoulders of several of them.

The remainder of McGinnity's 1904 season for New York was more of the same. In his final 29 starts, he continued piling up the innings, failing to make it into the 8th inning only four times. And despite a workload that would eventually reach a total of 408 innings of work, McGinnity also helped out in relief when needed. He made seven relief appearances, totalling 15 innings, and collected four additional wins to bring his season total to 35.

When McGinnity left the major leagues after the 1908 season at age 37, he continued pitching and managing in the minors, racking up an astonishing 171 wins in the minors and taking the mound for the final time at the age of 56. Although his career in the majors would last just 10 seasons, McGinnity's career total of 247 victories would lead to his induction into the Hall of Fame in 1946.

In this modern era of pitch counts and specialized bullpen help, today's starting pitchers are heralded any time they compile 200+ innings over their 35 or so starts in a single season. The workload of Joe "Iron Man" McGinnity should serve to remind us all of an earlier era when pitchers almost always finished what they started.