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Dave McNally
1942-2002

LHP 1962-75 Orioles, Expos
  • Led League in w 70
  • All-Star in 1969-70, 72

IPW-LERA
Career 2729184-1193.24
League CS 403-22.68

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» From 33rd Street to Camden Yards by John Eisenberg

Greatest Teams
» Greatest Teams: 1970 Orioles
» 1969 Orioles

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» Dave McNally by E W Peterson
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» Which pitching staff had four twenty-game winners?

Corrections
» June 18, 2003 (#222)

An unflappable lefthander with great control, McNally was the first of Baltimore's "Big Four" 20-game winners, joined later by Mike Cuellar, Jim Palmer, and Pat Dobson on the 1971 Orioles staff. But McNally's place in baseball history may have less to do with how well he labored than with his impact on baseball's labor relations. He and the Dodgers' Andy Messersmith became baseball's first two legal free agents in 1975.

Even before he won 20 games, McNally was a hero in Baltimore. He outpitched Don Drysdale to win the fourth and final game of the 1966 Series 1-0 on a four-hitter, bringing Baltimore its first World Championship. Though he led the AL with 24 wins in 1970, his best overall season was 1968, when he posted a 22-10 record, with career bests of a 1.95 ERA and 202 strikeouts. He helped the Orioles win the 1969 AL playoffs with an 11-inning, 11-strikeout, 1-0 victory against Minnesota in Game Two. However, he failed to hold a 3-0 lead in the fifth and final game of the 1969 Series against the Mets.

McNally's shining World Series moment came in the batter's box, not on the pitcher's mound. In the sixth inning of Game Three of the 1970 Series against the Reds, he became the only pitcher ever to hit a grand slam in a World Series. Ironically, the blast came off Tony Cloninger, who once hit a record two grand slams in a game while pitching for the Braves.

After the Curt Flood case and a short players' strike in 1972 failed to resolve the free agency issue, McNally and Messersmith decided to test the reserve clause and played their 1975 seasons without a contract. After the season, arbitrator Peter Seitz declared both players free agents. McNally, who had announced his plans to retire during a dismal season with the Expos, did not take advantage of his newly-acquired free agency, while Messersmith signed a large contract with the Atlanta Braves. (SEW)


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FROM THE BASEBALL CHRONOLOGY
» September 26, 1962: The Orioles Dave McNally makes his first ML start and shuts out the Royals, 3–0.

» June 2, 1964: Dave McNally blanks the A's as the Orioles take first place with a 4–0 win.

» October 1, 1964: Dave McNally's one-hitter keeps Baltimore in the pennant race, two 1/2 games behind the Yankees.

» October 9, 1966: Dave McNally wraps up Baltimore's brilliant pitching display, and a World Championship, with a 4-hit, 1–0 win. Frank Robinson's home run off Don Drysdale gives Baltimore a surprising sweep of the defending champion Dodgers. The 33 consecutive scoreless innings pitched by Baltimore are a World Series record.

» April 17, 1968: The A's debut at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum by losing 4–1 to Baltimore. Dave McNally fires a two-hitter to beat Lew Krausse. During the game, the dirt covering a shallow metal dome under the pitching mound, is kicked aside exposing the steel frame, so the mound is covered between innings.

» July 28, 1968: Dave McNally outduels Mickey Lolich to give Baltimore a much-need win over the Tigers, 5–1.

» August 26, 1968: In their first of two straight doubleheaders, Dave McNally makes it easy in the opener by belting a first-inning grand slam, off the A's Chuck Dobson. The O's score seven runs in the inning and beat the A's. 8–2. The A's come back in the nitecap, winning 2–0 behind Catfish Hunter and Diego Segui.

» August 31, 1968: Baltimore's Dave McNally wins his 10th straight, topping the first-place Tigers, 5–1. Paul Blair homers and triples in the win.

» May 15, 1969: With one out in the 9th, Cesar Tovar lines a single to stop Dave McNally's no-hit bid. The O's lefty ends with a one hit, 5–0, win over the Twins.

» June 19, 1969: Dave McNally goes to 10–0, pitching a 2-hitter and shutting out the Senators, 3–0. President Nixon arrives at the park in time to see the Orioles snap a scoreless tie in the 8th.

» July 5, 1969: AL East leader Baltimore breaks a 3-game losing streak as Dave McNally (12-0) wins his 14th straight game 9–3 at Detroit. Detroit OF Mickey Stanley plays his 220th straight errorless game and C Bill Freehan picks Paul Blair off 3B unassisted. Blair, on third with a triple, strolls too slowly back to the bag after the bat flies out of the hands of Frank Robinson.

» July 13, 1969: Undefeated O's ace Dave McNally wins his 13th but needs relief help in subduing the Red Sox, 6–3. Jim Lonborg, making his first start since breaking his toe June 21, takes to loss. Tony Conigliaro has a pair of homers and Reggie Smith stretches his hit streak to 20 games.

» August 3, 1969: Twin Rich Reese's pinch-hit grand slam off the Orioles' Dave McNally in the 7th ends his 17-game winning streak. McNally, now 15-1 for the year, loses 5–2 to Jim Kaat.

» October 5, 1969: Dave McNally's 3-hitter for the O's beats the Twins, 1–0.

» October 12, 1969: New York's Jerry Koosman and Ron Taylor combine on a 2-hitter, as Al Weis's 9th-inning single off loser Dave McNally gives the Mets a 2–1 win to even the World Series.

» June 26, 1970: Frank Robinson belts two successive grand slams during a 12–2 Oriole romp over the Senators, just the 7th major leaguer to ever accomplish the feat. Dave McNally, the winning pitcher, Don Buford, and Paul Blair trot home ahead of him on each blow. They will be Robby's only grand slams for the O's. The Orioles will lose C Clay Dalrymple tomorrow when he breaks his ankle in a home plate collision with the Nats Mike Epstein.

» July 26, 1970: Boog Powell drives in six runs to lead the Orioles to an 11–1 win over the Twins. Boog hits a single and homer, both with the sacks full, and takes over the American League lead in ribbies with 86. Dave McNally loses his shut out on a homer by P Jim Perry.

» August 24, 1970: Oakland tags Dave McNally for 10 hits but the Orioles ace still wins his 20th, 5–1, the 3rd straight year he's reached the charmed circle.

» October 4, 1970: Dave McNally hurls Baltimore to a 2-0 ALCS lead as the Orioles blast the Twins 11–3. Harmon Killebrew and Tony Oliva hit home runs in a losing cause.

» October 13, 1970: The Orioles win their 3rd straight over the Reds 9–3, with winning pitcher Dave McNally slugging a grand slam off Wayne Granger, the only one by a pitcher in World Series history. Frank Robinson and Don Buford also contribute homers, and 3B Brooks Robinson continues his excellence with the glove, as he makes two spectacular grabs in the field.

» November 6, 1970: The Twins Jim Perry wins the American League Cy Young Award in a close race. Perry, who won 24 games during the season, receives 55 points to edge out Dave McNally (47), Sam McDowell (45), and Mike Cuellar (44).

» September 13, 1971: Frank Robinson of the Orioles homers in each game of a doubleheader split with Detroit, becoming the 11th member of the 500-HR club with his 2nd shot. The O's win the opener, 9–1, behind Dave McNally's 13th consecutive win. The Tigers use 17 hits to win the nitecap, 10–5, for Scherman, who pitches eight 2/3 innings in relief of Joe Niekro.

» September 21, 1971: Dave McNally shuts out the Yankees 5–0 for his 20th win. It is the 4th straight 20-win year for the Oriole ace.

» October 9, 1971: The Orioles win Game One of the World Series over the Pirates 5–3 behind Dave McNally's 3-hitter and Merv Rettenmund's 3-run homer. Frank Robinson also homers, off Dock Ellis, who he homered off of in the All-Star Game -- a first.

» May 10, 1972: Orioles lefty Dave McNally hurls his 4th shutout of the season, blanking the Rangers, 1–0. Pete Broberg, who allows just two hits, takes the loss.

» June 14, 1972: In another tight pitching duel, the Orioles Dave McNally wins, 2–1, over the A's Catfish Hunter when Bobby Grich hits a 10th inning homer. The O's have now won seven straight.

» September 13, 1972: Frank Howard, who is not playing regularly for the Tigers, hits a 3-run homer off Dave McNally of the Orioles for a Detroit victory. It is his 13th career fourbagger off his favorite pitcher. He had hit one with the Rangers on July 18th, and 11 with the Senators 1965-1971.

» April 6, 1973: At Baltimore, Dave McNally fires a three-hitter as the Orioles roll over the Brewers, 10–0. Don Baylor has three doubles, a homer, and four RBIs, while Brooks Robinson bangs two homers for four RBIs.

» April 12, 1973: Dave McNally and the Orioles edge the Tigers, 1–0, in 10 innings. A throwing error by starter Mickey Lolich allows the only run.

» September 6, 1974: Baltimore sweeps a doubleheader from Cleveland 2–0 and 1–0. Dave McNally and Mike Cuellar notch the 4th and 5th consecutive shutouts for the Orioles, who set an American League record with 54 straight scoreless innings pitched.

» September 24, 1974: Al Kaline doubles off Dave McNally for his 3,000th career hit, as the Tigers beat the Orioles 5–4.

» December 4, 1974: In a dismal trade for Montreal, the Expos trade OF Ken Singleton and P Mike Torrez to the Orioles for P Dave McNally, OF Rich Coggins, and a minor league pitcher.

» December 23, 1975: Arbitrator Peter Seitz announces a landmark decision in favor of the Players' Association, making pitchers Andy Messersmith and Dave McNally free agents. Seitz is immediately fired by John Gaherin, chairman of the owners' Player Relations Committee. McNally, who retired June 8th, will not return to the ML, finishing with a 184-119 career record.

» June 7, 1994: Toronto defeats Chicago, 9-5, stopping Wilson Alvarez's winning streak at 15 games. Bo Jackson drives home all five of the White Sox runs. Alvarez falls two short of the American League record held jointly by Johnny Allen and Dave McNally.

» May 8, 1997: In Baltimore, the O's stop Randy Johnson's 16-game win streak with a decisive 13–3 pasting of the Mariners. Baltimore is led by Chris Hoiles, who collects six RBIs on two homers and a double. Johnson strikes out 10 in six innings, but gives up five runs on six hits and two walks as he attempted to become the first American League pitcher since Dave McNally (1968-69) to win 17 straight.

» April 21, 1999: The Yankees defeat the Rangers, 4–2, as Roger Clemens ties an American League record with his 17th consecutive win over two seasons. Johnny Allen (1936–37) and Dave McNally (1968–69) previously accomplished the feat for the Indians and Orioles, respectively.