Mickey Cochrane
Gordon Stanley " Mickey" Cochrane ( born April 6, 1903 in Bridgewater, Massachusetts, † June 28, 1962 in Lake Forest, Illinois) was an American baseball player and manager in Major League Baseball. His nickname was Black Mike.
Life
Mickey Cochrane enjoyed his education at Boston University, where he played in five different sports. Among other things, he was employed in the football team at his university as a quarterback, punter and running back. As a professional athlete, he opted for a career in baseball. His debut in the American League, he announced on April 14, 1925 together with Lefty Grove with the Philadelphia Athletics. In his first appearance as a hitter the same Catcher scored a single. With excellent offensive abilities Cochrane developed the same team regular and durchschlagkräfigsten catcher of his time. On May 21, 1925 he scored three homers in a game against the St. Louis Browns.
With the Athletics Cochrane played in three World Series. 1929 and 1930 won the Athletics against the Chicago Cubs and the St. Louis Cardinals, where they lost in seven games in 1931. 1928 Cochrane was elected MVP of the American League. His best year in Philadelphia in 1930, he achieved a batting average of 35.7 %, hit ten homers and could reach 85 RBI.
1934 Connie Mack built the team of Athletics for financial reasons to Cochrane and sold to the Detroit Tigers. With the Tigers, he was the same player and manager until 1937. 1934 he reached for the first time with the Tigers to the World Series, but lost as in Philadelphia the Cardinals in seven games. This year, Cochrane was able to receive his second MVP award in the American League. In 1935, he then won his first title as a manager, the Chicago Cubs were defeated in six games.
On May 25, 1937 ended the playing career of Mickey Cochrane. In the game against the New York Yankees he was hit by the pitcher Bump Hadley on his head and was taken to hospital with life-threatening injuries ( three skull fractures ). Doctors recommended the 34 -year-olds to play no baseball. After his hospitalization, he returned on July 26 as a manager back to the Tigers. However, he had lost by the severity of his injuries of enthusiasm and was discharged on August 6, 1938 by the Tigers.
Together with Bill Dickey of the Yankees Cochrane served in World War II for the U.S. Navy, which had as two of the best catchers of their time in their ranks. In 1947, Cochrane was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. In 1962, he died at the age of 59 years to cancer.