Person:David McNally (1)

Biographical Summary

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David Arthur McNally (October 31, 1942 – December 1, 2002) was an American professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball as a left-handed pitcher from 1962 through 1975, most notably as a member of the Baltimore Orioles dynasty that won four American League pennants and two World Series championships between 1966 and 1971. A three-time All-Star, McNally won 20 or more games for four consecutive seasons from 1968 through 1971. He was one of four 20-game winners for the 1971 Orioles (Pat Dobson, Jim Palmer, and Mike Cuellar were the other three).

Born in Billings, Montana, McNally was raised by his mother after his father died in the Battle of Okinawa. He was signed by the Orioles out of high school in 1960 and made his major league debut two years later, throwing a shutout in his first game in the major leagues. From 1963 through 1965, he continued to refine his pitches while securing his grip on a starting spot in the Orioles' rotation. In 1966, he made two starts in the World Series, the second of which was a shutout that gave the Orioles a 4–0 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers. McNally was bothered by a calcium deposit in his elbow in 1967; the injury limited his playing time in the second half of the season. He was named the Comeback Player of the Year in 1968 as he finished second in the American League with 22 wins.

McNally was selected to the All-Star Game for the first time in 1969, finishing the season with 20 wins. He threw 11 shutout innings to beat the Minnesota Twins in Game 2 of the first AL Championship Series, then faced the New York Mets twice in the World Series. He hit a home run against Jerry Koosman in one of the games, but the Orioles were defeated in five games. In 1970, McNally tied for the AL lead with 24 wins. He hit a grand slam in Game 3 of the World Series against the Cincinnati Reds, becoming a World Series victor for the second time as the Orioles won the World Series in five games. He missed six weeks with an injury in 1971 but still pitched enough to be one of four Orioles to win 20 games that season. McNally beat the Pittsburgh Pirates in Game 1 of the World Series, lost Game 5, and won Game 6 in relief, but the Orioles were defeated in seven games.

In 1972, McNally was named to the All-Star Game for the third time. He finished the year with his first losing record since 1964, though this was partly due to the Orioles scoring fewer runs than they had the previous year. In 1973 and 1974, he faced the Oakland Athletics in the playoffs but lost both games he pitched. Thinking he needed a change of scenery, McNally requested a trade after the 1974 season; the Orioles obliged, sending him to the Montreal Expos, with whom he played one final year before retiring halfway through 1975, citing an inability to throw the fastball. After the 1975 season, he added his name to a grievance filed against the reserve clause, which resulted in the historic Seitz decision that created free agency in baseball. McNally returned to his hometown Billings and worked as a car dealer until his death from cancer in 2002. A member of the Baltimore Orioles Hall of Fame, he is among the franchise's leaders in many statistical categories.

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1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2} "Flying high: Baltimore Orioles.", in Time
   Vol 94, No. 45, 1969 (accessed June 4, 2018).

   Biography Reference Bank (H.W. Wilson), EBSCOhost.

2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4} "Orioles pitching great dies led struggle for free agency", in Baltimore Sun. (Baltimore (independent city), Maryland, United States)
   article by Peter Schmuck, SUN STAFF, 3 Dec 2002.

   Key figure challenged baseball's reserve clause, clinched '66 Series for O's
   Dave Mcnally: 1942 - 2002

   Pitcher Dave McNally, one of the cornerstones of the greatest starting rotation in Orioles history and a key figure in baseball's economic revolution of the 1970s, died of cancer Sunday night in his hometown of Billings, Mont. He was 60. Longtime Orioles fans might remember Mr. McNally best for his world title-clinching 1-0 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1966 and a string of four straight 20-win seasons from 1968 to 1971. He and Orioles pitchers Jim Palmer, Mike Cuellar and Pat Dobson in 1971 became the first four 20-game winners on the same team since 1920. The biggest victory of his career, however, did not come on a pitcher's mound. Mr. McNally and Andy Messersmith changed the financial face of Major League Baseball forever when they played the 1975 season without signed contracts and filed a grievance through the Major League Baseball Players Association challenging the clause in baseball's bylaws that allowed teams to maintain contractual rights to players in perpetuity. The "reserve clause" was struck down by arbitrator Peter Seitz on Dec. 23, 1975, clearing the way for players to become free agents and sell their services to the highest bidder. The ruling triggered a salary spiral that has pushed the average annual salary for a major-leaguer from $44,000 in 1975 to $2.38 million at the start of the 2002 season. "Dave will be remembered as one of the aces of the great Orioles pitching staffs of the late '60s and early '70s as well as for his role in overturning the reserve clause," said baseball commissioner Bud Selig. "He was a great left-handed pitcher who won 20 or more games in four consecutive seasons. My deepest sympathies go out to his family and friends." "The Orioles organization is deeply saddened by the passing of Dave McNally," Orioles owner Peter G. Angelos said in a statement. "The look of wonderment on his smiling face as Brooks Robinson leaps into his arms after the last out of the 1966 World Series will live forever in the memory of Oriole fans. ... That he was the first pitcher inducted into the Orioles Hall of Fame is testament to his place in Orioles history. "In addition, his impact on baseball, through his testing of the reserve clause in 1975, left an indelible mark for which all Major League Baseball players should be indebted to him." Mr. McNally did not benefit greatly from his historic stand. He had retired by the time Mr. Seitz's ruling came down, but thousands of baseball players owe their wealth and collective bargaining leverage to that decision, which was refined in the 1976 labor agreement to allow players to become free agents after six years of major-league service. The decision also prompted a huge increase in movement of players from team to team, making rarities of one-team stars such as the Orioles' Cal Ripken and San Diego Padres' Tony Gwynn in the free-agent era. Mr. McNally spent 13 seasons in Baltimore, from 1962 to 1974, and played a major role in the emergence of the Orioles as one of the American League's most successful franchises. He emerged in the late 1960s as one of the best pitchers in the game, with 87 victories from 1968 to 1971. He tied for the league lead in wins in 1970 when he went 24-9. Though Mr. McNally was overshadowed in the Orioles rotation by Mr. Palmer, he was front and center for several important moments in the history of the Orioles franchise. He outdueled Don Drysdale in Game 4 of the 1966 World Series, pitching a four-hitter with a sore arm to complete an unlikely sweep of the Los Angeles Dodgers. In 1969, he surrendered a three-run lead in the final game of the Orioles' World Series loss to the Miracle Mets. Mr. McNally's most dynamic Series moment, however, came at the plate, when he launched a grand slam off Cincinnati Reds pitcher Wayne Granger in the third game of the 1970 Series -- still the only grand slam hit by a pitcher in the fall classic. Former Orioles first baseman Boog Powell remembers the first time he saw Mr. McNally, when the two were young Orioles prospects in the Arizona Instructional League more than 40 years ago. "He probably had the best curveball I ever saw," Mr. Powell said. "I thought, `Oh my gosh, I've got to hit that to get to the big leagues!' "He had wonderful control. Sometimes it was amazing that he could get by on what he had. He knew how to pitch, and he was a great competitor. Sometimes he didn't look like he had enough to get anybody out, but he threw to hitters' weaknesses and seemed to know what they were looking for. It was fun to play behind him." Long after he retired, Mr. McNally would look back on his career as a three-act play, beginning with the learning experiences of his first six seasons, the four straight years with 20 or more victories, then the physical decline that eventually led to his retirement after a frustrating half-season with the Montreal Expos in 1975. "When I look at my career ... it seems to fall into three segments, I think -- stupid, smart and injured," Mr. McNally quipped in 1998. When he was good, he was very good. He set an American League record with 17 straight victories over two seasons in 1968-1969 that stood until Roger Clemens broke it with 20 straight in 1998-1999, and owns a share of the record for consecutive wins at the start of a season (15 in 1969). His good fortune during a 29-2 run that extended from the All-Star break in 1968 to the beginning of August the next year earned him the nickname "Dave McLucky." "He was a tremendous individual," said former teammate and Orioles minor-league director Don Buford. "He was very team-oriented, low-key. He was just a peach of a guy." Mr. McNally finished his career with a 184-119 record and a 3.24 ERA, but raised his performance to a higher level in the postseason, once pitching an 11-inning, 11-strikeout game to beat the Minnesota Twins in the 1969 playoffs and compiling a 7-4 record and 2.89 ERA in five league playoffs and four World Series. After retiring from baseball, Mr. McNally co-owned car dealerships with his brother in Billings. Mr. McNally overcame prostate cancer in 1997 but was found to have lung cancer in 1998. He underwent radiation and chemotherapy, but the cancer eventually spread. "We all grew up together," said Mr. Powell. "It's a great loss for a lot of us personally and a great loss for baseball." Mr. McNally's family had gathered in Billings over the weekend. His eighth grandchild, Paris Lisi, born Nov. 5, arrived with her parents in time to see her grandfather an hour before what Jeff McNally called his father's "peaceful" death. Mr. McNally is survived by his mother, Beth McNally of Billings; his wife, Jean McNally; sons Jeff McNally of Salt Lake City and Mike McNally of Billings; daughters Pam Murphy of Billings, Susan Lisi of Walnut Creek, Calif., and Anne Anderson of Leander, Texas; brothers Jim McNally of Billings and Dan McNally of San Bernardino, Calif; a sister, Dee Noble of Billings; and eight grandchildren. Funeral services will be held Thursday in Billings. The family suggests memorial contributions to Ronald McDonald House, 1144 N. 30th St., Billings, Mont. 59101; Boys and Girls Club, 505 Orchard Lane, Billings, Mont. 59101; or American Legion Baseball Program, P.O. Box 22535, Billings, Mont. 59104.

3. ↑ ^{3.00 3.01 3.02 3.03 3.04 3.05 3.06 3.07 3.08 3.09 3.10} "Baseball great Dave McNally dies in Billings", in Billings Gazette Local News
   1 Dec 2002 (accessed 4 Jun 2018).

   Article by Ed West of The Gazette with Bill Bighaus Staff

   Dave McNally, Montana's Athlete of the Century who played a key role in gaining free agency for Major League Baseball players, has died after a lengthy battle with cancer. The former Billings American Legion and Baltimore Orioles star died Sunday in Billings at the age of 60. He had been battling prostate and lung cancer since the fall of 1997. David Arthur McNally was born in Billings on Oct. 31, 1942. After a remarkable Legion baseball career that included twice leading Billings to the Legion World Series, he went on to win 184 games in 14 major league seasons, the first 13 with the Orioles. McNally died late Sunday, John Michelotti of Michelotti Sawyers & Nordquist Funeral Home said Monday. A funeral mass is scheduled for 11 a.m. Thursday at St. Thomas the Apostle Catholic Church in Billings, with burial to follow at Yellowstone Valley Memorial Park. A viewing will be held at the mortuary today from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m., Wednesday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Thursday prior to the funeral beginning at 9:30 a.m. His family asked that any memorials be sent to the Billings Ronald McDonald House, Billings Boys and Girls Club or the Billings American Legion baseball program. Three years ago, McNally was honored by The Gazette and Sports Illustrated magazine as Montana's Athlete of the Century (1900-2000). McNally played for Baltimore from 1962-74. McNally was a three-time All-Star and had a string of four straight 20-victory seasons (1968-71). His 181 wins in an Oriole uniform are the most ever by a Baltimore left-hander. McNally may be best known for helping to change the landscape of Major League Baseball. In 1975, McNally and Andy Messersmith won a grievance against baseball's reserve clause, paving the way for players to become free agents. In that time, baseball salaries have risen from $44,000 in 1975 to nearly $2 million in 2001. Fifteen years earlier, McNally helped put the Billings Legion baseball program on the map, leading legendary coach Ed Bayne's team to a second-place finish in the 1960 American Legion World Series. McNally also played on the 1958 Billings team, which also reached the ALWS. "He was just a great athlete," said Pete Cochran, who played Legion ball with McNally. "He was a solid guy, a good leader, just outstanding." During the 1960 Legion season, McNally posted an 18-1 record and once struck out 27 batters in a game, including five in one inning. His only loss came in the national championship game when New Orleans beat Billings 9-3. One thing that stands out for Cochran and others who knew McNally, was his determination and competitiveness. "He was a tough, hard competitor," Cochran said. "He was bull-headed in some ways, but a great guy. It's a sad deal." Cochran said McNally battled cancer the same way. "He fought the whole thing for five-plus years. He was a good friend. I spent about 45 minutes with him eight to 10 days ago. He was telling stories and it was fun to be there." Jeff Ballard, who played with McNally's son Jeff on the Billings Scarlets in the early 1980s and went on to pitch in the major leagues for the Orioles and the Pittsburgh Pirates, remembers him "as one of the best people I've ever been around. "He always confronted things in life head-on. The doctors marveled that he fought as long as he did. He was very honest with people and he was compassionate. He was fun to be around." Bob Fry, who also played Legion ball with McNally, recalled his humble attitude and upbeat personality. "He's probably one of the greatest athletes in Montana, but was one of the most unassuming people for as great as he was. You actually had to pull it out of him. He never wore it on his sleeve. He'd let his actions speak rather than his mouth." Fry said McNally "was an asset to Billings. He was always upbeat and positive. He built a new house last year with terminal cancer. That says a lot about how long he thought he'd be around." McNally, who was also a basketball standout in high school at Billings Central, signed a contract with the Orioles after his Legion career and made it to the big leagues two years later. His major league debut gave a hint of what was to come. On Sept. 26, 1962, McNally threw a two-hit shutout in beating the Kansas City Athletics 3-0. He retired the last 17 batters he faced. Beginning in the mid-1960s, McNally established himself a solid major league starter on one of the most effective pitching staffs in baseball history. In 1966, he completed the Orioles' four-game World Series sweep of the Los Angeles Dodgers with a 1-0 victory. He went on post records of 22-10 in 1968, 20-7 in '69, 24-9 in '70 and 21-5 in '71. McNally, Jim Palmer, Mike Cuellar and Pat Dobson all won at least 20 games in 1971, the first foursome on the same team to do so since the 1920 Chicago White Sox. McNally was selected to the American League All-Star team in 1969, 1970 and 1972. One of McNally's most notable feats came, ironically, with the bat when he hit a grand slam in Game 3 of the 1970 World Series against Cincinnati. He's the only pitcher in history to hit a World Series grand slam. "I think the proudest thing I have left from those days is the respect of my teammates," McNally once said. "They knew when I went out there, they got everything. I didn't leave anything on the bench. "That doesn't mean I didn't have some bad games, because I sure did. I think when that happened they knew it wasn't from a lack of effort or a lack of preparation. They got everything I had to give." McNally was traded to the Montreal Expos in 1975 and retired in June with a 3-6 record. After returning to Billings, McNally joined his brother, Jim, in running Archie Cochrane Motors. In December 1999, McNally was honored at a banquet celebrating his selection as Montana's Athlete of the Century. "That's quite an honor," McNally told The Gazette prior to the ceremony. "Sometimes you forget about the career and then different things come up that bring it all back. It was such a great time. While it was happening, you never think about what you're accomplishing. You're just doing it. "And down the road, when not too many people have surpassed what you did, I guess that makes what you accomplished sound a little better." While McNally became a household name, many people will remember him as more than just an athlete. "It's a loss for the community," Cochran said. "He was generous with his time when people asked." "I feel very sad," Ballard said. "His son is my best friend. His wife, Jean, is a saint and I have the utmost respect for the rest of his kids. I respected him so much. He was a hero in my eyes." Gazette sportswriter Bill Bighaus and The Associated Press contributed to this story.

4. ↑ ^{4.0 4.1 4.2} David Arthur “Dave” McNally, in Find A Grave
   Memorial No. 6983680, 2 Dec 2002.

   Birth: 31 Oct 1942 Billings, Yellowstone County, Montana, USA
   Death: 1 Dec 2002 (aged 60) Billings, Yellowstone County, Montana, USA
   Burial: Yellowstone Valley Memorial Park, Billings, Yellowstone County, Montana, USA

   Bio: Major League Baseball Player. Pitched for the Baltimore Orioles from 1966 to 1970 and for the Baltimore AL pennant winning teams from 1968 to 1971. In 1966 he led the Baltimore Orioles to winning the World Series Championship, beating the Los Angeles Dodgers 1-0. He later posted the landmark legal win that led baseball's free-agent's era and million-dollar salaries. In 1969 the Baltimore Orioles beat Minnesota in the AL Championship Series 1-0 in 11 innings. That particular game stands to this day as the longest complete-game shutout in post season history. He was the only pitcher to hit a grand slam during a World Series game. He was an All-star in 1969, 1970 and 1972 and his jersey number was 19. He was traded to the Montreal Expos on December 4, 1974, but quit in June 1975. He was also the first pitcher inducted into the Orioles Hall of Fame.
   Family Members
   Parents
   Alfred James McNally 1909-1945
   Beth McNally 1911-2005
   Maintained by: Find A Grave
   URL: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/6983680/david-arthur-mcnally
   Citation: Find A Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com : accessed 11 June 2018), memorial page for David Arthur “Dave” McNally (31 Oct 1942–1 Dec 2002), Find A Grave Memorial no. 6983680, citing Yellowstone Valley Memorial Park, Billings, Yellowstone County, Montana, USA; Maintained by Find A Grave.

5. ↑ ^5.0 5.1 Dave McNally, in The Orioles encyclopedia: a half century of history and highlights by Mike Gesker
   pages 368, 791, 2009.
6. ↑ Dave McNally, in Pitching, Defense, and Three-Run Homers: The 1970 Baltimore Orioles edited by Mark Armour, Malcolm Allen
   pages 60, 124, 192, 210, 271, published 1 May 2012 U of Nebraska Press.

   For the Baltimore Orioles, the glory days stretched to decades. Through the 1960s and 1970s, the team arguably had the best players, the best manager, the best Minor League teams, the best scouts and front office-and, unarguably, the best record in the American League. But the best of all, and one of baseball's greatest teams ever, was the Oriole's team of 1970. Pitching, Defense, and Three-Run Homers documents that paradoxically unforgettable yet often overlooked World Champion team. Led by the bats of Frank Robinson and Boog Powell and a trio of 20-win pitchers, the Orioles won 108 regular season games and dropped just 1 postseason game on their way to winning the World Series against the Reds. The club featured three future Hall of Fame players (Frank Robinson, Brooks Robinson, and Jim Palmer), a Hall of Fame manager (Earl Weaver), and several other star players in the prime of their careers. Featuring biographical articles on Weaver, his coaches, the broadcasters, and the players of the 1970 season, this book tells what happened in and out of the game. It details highlights and timelines, the memorable games, spectacular plays, and the team's working philosophy, "the Oriole Way"-and in sum recreates the magic of one of the greatest seasons in baseball history.