Monday, December 1, 2014

no. 354 - don mc mahon


Who is the man: Don McMahon, pitching for his seventh and final major league team, appeared in 61 games in relief for the Giants in 1970 and saved what would be a career-high 19 games.

Can ya dig it: Is that a police officer in the distance?

Right on: I'm always impressed by players who appeared on cards in three decades during their careers. McMahon was in the 1958 Topps set, the 1972 Topps set and all the sets in between.

You see this cat McMahon is a bad mother: When McMahon retired, he had accumulated 874 games pitched and only Hoyt Wilhelm, Lindy McDaniel and Cy Young had pitched in more. McMahon is now 33rd on the all-time list.

Shut your mouth: McMahon was traded from the Milwaukee Braves to the Houston Colt .45s after the season had started in 1962. McMahon was upset that Braves manager Birdie Tebbetts hadn't used him much that year before he was traded and told the press about it. McMahon later received a letter from his mother telling him to stop saying bad things about Tebbetts.

No one understands him but his woman: McMahon served as both a pitcher and the team pitching coach for the Giants in 1972. In 1973 and 1974 he was officially just the Giants' pitching coach, but San Francisco activated him each year to pitch in games.


(A word about the back): The old firemen standings were delightfully simple: wins + saves = Rolaids Relief Man Award.

3 comments:

  1. Mcmahon actually got on a card in 73 and 74 as one of the Giant coaches

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  2. And wow McMahon actually pitched pretty well in '73 and '74 in limited action. I wonder though if when he got into a jam, if he called time out walked to the dugout got a windbreaker on, and went back to the mound and talked to himself.

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  3. I know in 6 years late here but the rolaids award gave more points for a save than a win.

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