"I didn't want to be a catcher. It was thrust upon me, as they say in the classics." -Mickey Cochrane
Wherever Mickey Cochrane went, he always seemed to be a magnet for winning. In thirteen years as a catcher for the Philadelphia A's and Detroit Tigers, his teams appeared in five and won three World Series . Mickey Cochrane contributed through a fierce leadership that refused to lose all the while suffering through the emotional toll of being a player-manager. This is his story.
The Early Years
Gordon Stanley Cochrane was born in Bridgewater, Massachusetts on April 6, 1903. The fifth of seven children, all he knew was work on the family farm as his immigrant parents sought to build a better life for themselves.
While Gordon preferred football and basketball, Bridgewater High School didn't have a football team and in that era he knew that his best fiscal option was to play baseball. He received offers from Lehigh and Dartmouth but Gordon decided to attend nearby Boston University because they were willing to allow him to play more than one sport.
Over the course of his stay at Boston University, Gordon Cochrane played basketball, ran track, fought in the boxing ring, played quarterback/halfback/punter/kicker in football and patrolled the outfield in baseball. His 53-yard field goal as a sophomore in 1921 would remain a school record for over 60 years. To afford the rest of his tuition, Cochrane also played under the assumed name "Frank King" in Class D Dover of the Eastern Shore League. While there, he filled in as a catcher. Although he was uncomfortable at the abrupt switch of positions, Cochrane would eventually grow into the position.
After graduation, Gordon Cochrane signed with the Portland Beavers of the Pacific Coast League and earned a nickname that would refuse to leave his side the rest of his life. While scouting him, Portland's Tom Turner wasn't too impressed with the young lad, stating that he was just another Irish "mick". From then on, he would forever be known as "Mickey" on the baseball diamond while going by "Mike" in private. But no matter what his nickname was, Mickey Cochrane was determined to make a name for himself.
The A's
From the moment Mickey Cochrane became a pro baseball player for the Portland Beavers, he was met with a whirlwind of activity. In the span of just two years, Cochrane went from the PCL to the MLB, quickly earning the attention of Connie Mac and the Philadelphia Athletics.
While he may not have felt ready as a rookie in 1925, he leaned heavily on the knowledge passed down to him from mentors with Dover ( Jiggs Donahue, manager) and Portland (Tom Daly, catcher). As luck would have it, the A's current catcher, Cy Perkins, was willing to help the young catcher out before Cochrane could officially take his job.
Mickey Cochrane showed glimpses of all that he would be known for that first year, popping a measly six home runs into the outfield, batting .331 and making 419 putouts. He began a five year streak of leading the majors in putouts in 1926, topping out at 659 in 1929.
Despite his proficiency at getting players out, Mickey Cochrane wasn't perfect. He twice led either the league (1926) or the majors (1928) in errors committed.
By the end of the Roaring '20's, the A's were primed to make a run at history. For the first time in 16 years they made it to the World Series in 1929 where Mickey Cochrane's .400 batting average, five runs and six hits helped his team beat the Chicago Cubs in five hard-fought games. Just days after the last out, the world was thrown into utter chaos as Black Tuesday merged its ugly head. The Great Depression had begun.
With the world crumbling all around them, the A's continued to dominate, beating the Cardinals in the 1930 World Series to defend their title. The A's were riding high and looked like they just might pull off the rare three-pete, but they lost in their rematch with the Cardinals, losing in seven while their valuable catcher batted a measly .160.
At that time, Mickey Cochrane couldn't imagine living in a better baseball town and he never dreamed of one day becoming a manager. But Connie Mac saw something in him as he began selling off the pieces of his last great team. Mickey Cochrane's life would never be the same.
The Tigers
$100, 000. In the thick of the Great Depression, it was an offer too good to refuse. So, Connie Mac sold one of the greatest catchers he had ever known to the Detroit Tigers in 1933, with the stipulation that Cochrane would be a player-manager. Cochrane would soon come to loathe that dual role. No longer would he have just himself to worry about. He had an entire organization that was counting on him to make the right decisions.
Still, with stress comes growth and in the public eye, Cochrane never lost a step. He averaged .322 in his first year with the club and .320 in his second. That second year of 1934 was unique for the aging catcher. While he drove in just 75 runs, connected on 140 hits and bashed two home runs, he was named AL MPV for the second time since 1928. With a combined 12 homers, it can be argued that he won the award mostly due to his leadership abilities, although he did record 645 putouts in 1928. No matter the circumstance, he always knew how to get the most out of his teammates.
That year, he helped Schoolboy Row win 16 straight. Having already helped his A's teammate Left Grove accomplish the feat back in 1931, Mickey Cochrane became the first AL pitcher to help two different pitchers win 16 straight.
That year, the Tigers won 101 games and marched all the way to the Fall Classic as Mickey Cochrane earned his first All-Star selection. All looked well for the Tigers until disaster struck. With two on base and no one out late in Game 6, Cochrane was called out. Having been robbed of an opportunity for a series-clinching inning, Cochrane had an emotional breakdown and had to be hospitalized as the Tigers fell apart to lose the game 4-3. Although he returned for Game 7, it was too little too late. the Cardinals pounded his Tigers into submission to the tune of 11-0.
Mickey Cochrane was a man on a mission in 1935. Again, he earned an All-Star selection and again he led the Tigers all the way to the World Series where they Met the Cubs. In his final appearance in the World Series, Mickey Cochrane hit seven times, batted .292 and scored three runs as the Tigers won in six. But while he was on top of the world, Mickey Cochrane was dying inside.
The Later Years
Mickey Cochrane was never one for the spotlight. Sure he loved winning, but he hated the pressure of it even more. Time magazine only made things worse when it ran a cover story on him, describing his impeccable timing for coming to the Motor City just when it began to rise from the ashes of the Great Depression. While flattering, the article only put more pressure on him. As the years dragged on, players began to notice his dour demeanor on the field and began to refer to him as "Black Mike". It was obvious to many that the game was wearing him out.
It was almost a blessing in disguise when he got hit in the head by Yankees pitcher Bump Hadley in May 1937. Although he would survive the fractured skull, Mickey Cochrane would never play again.
He struggled in his return as manager and was fired after 1938. When World War II began, Mickey Cochrane provided his services by coaching the baseball team at the Great Lakes Naval Station. Tragically, his only son, Gordon Jr., was killed on the battlefield in Normandy during the D-Day invasion.
After the war, Mickey Cochrane spent his remaining years running a dude ranch in Montana and scouting for the Yankees and Tigers. In 1947, the man who never wanted to be a catcher was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. At the time of his death from lymphatic cancer on June 28, 1962, Mickey Cochrane's lifetime average of .320 was best among all catchers.
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