Moose McCormick

Harry Elwood "Moose" McCormick (February 28, 1881 – July 9, 1962) was an American professional baseball outfielder. He played all or part of five seasons in Major League Baseball between 1904 and 1913 for the New York Giants, Pittsburgh Pirates, and Philadelphia Phillies. McCormick also served in the United States Army during World War I and as a civilian director of the United States Army Air Forces during World War II.

Under manager John McGraw of the Giants, he was one of the first pinch hitters in the game's history and was considered one of the best pinch hitters in the game.

Early life McCormick's father worked in the Philadelphia Gas Works, while his mother raised their five children. McCormick's father died when he was five years old, making him legally an orphan under Pennsylvania laws, and eligible to attend Girard College. McCormick graduated from Girard College in 1898, and enrolled at Bucknell University, where he played baseball, American football, basketball, and track and field for the Bucknell Bison. This led McGraw, now realizing the need for a full-time coach, to hire Arlie Latham for the role, the first full-time base coach in MLB. McCormick scored the potential winning run in the infamous 1908 Merkle game. The run was eventually nullified, the game ended in a tie, and the Giants lost the pennant by a single game. He worked for the Hess Steel Company in Baltimore, Maryland after his retirement. In 1917, he enlisted in the United States Army. He fought in France as a first lieutenant and captain in the 167th Infantry Regiment of the 42nd Infantry Division, known as the "Rainbow Division", during World War I. He then coached the Bucknell Bison baseball team in 1923 through 1925, and the Army Black Knights baseball team in 1928.

McCormick remained with the military, serving as a civilian director in the United States Army Air Forces during World War II. He died in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania, in 1962.

McCormick was inducted into the Bucknell Sports Hall of Fame in 1979.