April 19th, 1934 - Tiger of the Week: Mickey Cochrane

Tiger of the Week - Mickey Cochrane (HA4)

"Had he come to it at another time he might be remembered as a colorful, fiery playing manager who led the Tigers to two pennants and a World Series win - and nothing more. But...to a depression ridden Detroit, Cochrane's baseball leadership brought an interest, an ethusiasm, an elan that somehow kept hearts high and grins going despite life's daily disappointments."

-A Detroit Free Press editorial from 1962, reprinted in Cobb Would Have Caught It

Player-managers were common in the 1930s, and in 1934 Detroit's Manager, Mickey Cochrane, was also the regular catcher.

Although well known for his years with the Tigers, the bulk of Cochrane's playing days were spent with the Philadelphia A's. Cochrane had started out as an outfielder, but his minor league manager made a catcher out of him due to necessity. Aside from a single outfield appearance in 1932, Cochrane played every one of his 1452 games behind home plate.

Philadelphia A's owner/manager Connie Mack had been so impressed with Cochrane during the Roaring 20s, he had purchased Cochrane's entire team just to get the rights to him. Mack's gamble paid off, and Cochrane and teammate Lefty Grove would become the backbone of the A's championship teams of the late 1920s and early 30s.

After the 1933 season, however, the Depression forced the cash strapped A's to sell his contract to Detroit. Tiger owner Frank Navin had been shopping for a player-manager, and had nearly purchased Babe Ruth's contract from the Yankees. Ruth dithered, however, and the Tigers signed Cochrane instead. In 1934, Cochrane won his second AL MVP (his first was in 1928) and led the Tigers to the AL pennant.

Cochrane's intensity was pervasive. According to one Detroit baseball historian, "You only had to watch him return the ball to the pitcher. There were no lollipop lobs from the scowling, jugeared catcher the papers dubbed 'Black Mike.' He fired it hard and true, a clothesline back to the mound...the message was clear: If you weren't in the game, you could find yourself suddenly out of it." Despite this, he was also a fair manager and a good teacher. CWCI, p. 52. Among his innovations was a one handed catching style that enabled him to get the ball out of his mitt faster.

Cochrane stood out from most of the players of the 1930s by virtue of being a college graduate (Boston University - Business Administration). Music, theater and Rudyard Kipling were among his hobbies. CWCI pp. 48-52.

Cochrane was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1947, and is one of only sixteen backstops so honored. A lifetime .320 hitter (.296 neutralized), Cochrane, like Ted Williams, hit a home run in his last at bat in 1937. Defensively, Cochrane also was quite strong. In 1934, Strat rates him a 1/4/-3.

http://www.baseball-reference.com/

http://www.dickperez.com/

CWCI

Revised 08.15.07