James McCutchen McJames (August 27, 1874 – September 23, 1901) was an American professional

baseball player Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

. He was a right-handed

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("Pitch (baseball), pitches") the Baseball (ball), baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of out (baseball), retiring a batter (baseball), batter, ...

over parts of six seasons (1895–1899, 1901) with the Washington Senators,

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles (also known as the O's) are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East Division. As one of the America ...

, and

Brooklyn Superbas The Brooklyn Dodgers were a Major League Baseball team founded in 1883 as the Brooklyn Grays. In 1884, it became a member of the American Association as the Brooklyn Atlantics before joining the National League in 1890. They remained in Brookl ...

. He was the

National League National League often refers to: *National League (baseball), one of the two baseball leagues constituting Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada *National League (division), the fifth division of the English football (soccer) system ...

strikeout In baseball or softball, a strikeout (or strike-out) occurs when a batter accumulates three strikes during a time at bat. It means the batter is out, unless the third strike is not caught by the catcher and the batter reaches first base safe ...

champion in 1897 with the Washington Senators. For his career, he compiled a 79–80 record in 178 appearances, with a 3.43 earned run average (ERA) and 593

Early career

Following his breakout year with the Washington Senators in 1897, McJames was sold to the Baltimore Orioles where he achieved stardom with a 27–15 record, pitched 40 complete games in 42 starts, and had an earned run average of 2.36 in the 1898 season. McJames was second in the league with 178 strikeouts, fourth in ERA, and fourth in complete games. This 1898 Orioles squad has long been considered one of the best teams ever, with McJames as the team's star pitcher. This team included such baseball legends as

John McGraw John Joseph McGraw (April 7, 1873 – February 25, 1934) was an American Major League Baseball (MLB) player and manager (baseball), manager who was for almost thirty years manager of the New York Giants (NL), New York Giants. He was also the ...

Willie Keeler William Henry Keeler (March 3, 1872 – January 1, 1923), nicknamed "Wee Willie" because of his small stature, was an American right fielder in Major League Baseball who played from 1892 to 1910, primarily for the Baltimore Orioles and Brooklyn ...

Hughie Jennings Hugh Ambrose Jennings (April 2, 1869 – February 1, 1928) was an American professional baseball player, coach and manager from 1891 to 1925. Jennings was a leader, both as a batter and as a shortstop, with the Baltimore Orioles teams that won N ...

, and Wild Bill Donovan. The following season the owners of the

purchased a half interest in the Brooklyn Bridegrooms (dubbed the "Superbas" by the media) and took their best players with them. This included James, Jennings, Keeler,

Jay Hughes James H. "Jay" Hughes (January 22, 1874 – June 2, 1924) was an American Major League Baseball pitcher who played four seasons from to . Career Hughes was born in Sacramento, California, in 1874. He attracted attention in 1897 when he thr ...

, and

Joe Kelley Joseph James Kelley (December 9, 1871 – August 14, 1943) was an American left fielder in Major League Baseball (MLB) who starred in the outfield of the Baltimore Orioles teams of the 1890s. Making up the nucleus of the Orioles along with Jo ...

. During the final game of 1899, his first season with the Superbas, James came within one out of throwing a no-hitter in his 4–0 victory over the

Boston Beaneaters Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and financial center of New England, a region of the Northeastern United States. It has an area of and a ...

. The no-hitter was spoiled by future Hall of Famer

Hugh Duffy Hugh Duffy (November 26, 1866 – October 19, 1954) was an American outfielder and manager in Major League Baseball. He was a player or player-manager for the Chicago White Stockings, Chicago Pirates, Boston Reds, Boston Beaneaters, Milwau ...

with a ninth-inning single.

Personal

McJames was the great-grandson of Judge William Dobein James, who, at age 16 served in the Williamsburgh Militia under General Francis Marion, during the American Revolution. William James later wrote a Life of Marion, which is much used today as a reference because of its first-hand information. Doc McJames was also the great-great grandson of Major John James, chief officer under Francis "Swamp Fox" Marion of Revolutionary War fame. James went by his formal name of James McJames during his first season, then changed to "Doc" for the remainder of his career. It is speculated that he did so to hide knowledge of his baseball career from his parents, as playing baseball was not reputable at the time. He had a clause in each of his major league contracts preventing teams from playing him on Sundays. Before playing professional baseball, McJames attended the

University of South Carolina The University of South Carolina (USC, SC, or Carolina) is a Public university, public research university in Columbia, South Carolina, United States. Founded in 1801 as South Carolina College, It is the flagship of the University of South Car ...

. He was the first Gamecocks baseball player to make it to the major leagues. While at South Carolina, McJames played guard on the school's inaugural football team, in 1892. McJames practiced medicine in

Cheraw, South Carolina Cheraw ( , ) is a town on the Pee Dee River in Chesterfield County, South Carolina, Chesterfield County, South Carolina, United States. The population was 5,040 at the 2020 census. The greater Cheraw area in the zip code 29520 has a populatio ...

. Cheraw was an active baseball town in this period and produced several other notable baseball players. James is buried in Old St. David's Cemetery in Cheraw, South Carolina. McJames was born in

Williamsburg County, South Carolina Williamsburg County is a county located in the U.S. state of South Carolina. As of the 2020 census its population was 31,026. The county seat and largest community is Kingstree. After a previous incarnation of Williamsburg County, the current ...

. At the peak of his career, he attended medical school at the Charleston Medical College (now

Medical University of South Carolina The Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) is a public medical school in Charleston, South Carolina. It opened in 1824 as a small private college aimed at training physicians and has since established hospitals and medical facilities acros ...

) in the off-season, graduating after three years in 1900.

Death

McJames later left baseball to briefly practice medicine with his father and brother in South Carolina. While making a house call, McJames was thrown from a horse-drawn carriage and within a month died from complications. He was 27 years old.

External links

SABR bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:McJames, Doc 1874 births 1901 deaths Major League Baseball pitchers Baseball players from South Carolina Washington Senators (1891–1899) players Baltimore Orioles (NL) players Brooklyn Superbas players National League strikeout champions People from Williamsburg County, South Carolina South Carolina Gamecocks football players Road incident deaths in South Carolina Petersburg Farmers players 19th-century baseball players 19th-century American sportsmen South Carolina Gamecocks baseball players Medical University of South Carolina alumni Tuberculosis deaths in South Carolina 20th-century deaths from tuberculosis Sportspeople from Cheraw, South Carolina

Early career

Personal

Death

See also

External links