Rodney Duncan McCray (born September 13, 1963) is an American former professional

baseball 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 ...

player who is best known for crashing through an

outfield The outfield, in cricket, baseball and softball is the area of the field of play further from the batsman or batter than the infield. In association football, the outfield players are positioned outside the goal area. In bat and ball games ...

fence attempting to make a catch. He played mostly in the minors, but also made it to the majors with the

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. The club plays its ...

and

New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National ...

from 1990 to 1992. He is currently the head coach for the New York Rise of the

Association of Fastpitch Professionals Association of Fastpitch Professionals (AFP) is a professional women's fastpitch softball league in the United States consisting of independent teams in collaboration to create a platform for competition at the highest level. The new league began ...

(AFP).

Early life and career

Born in

Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

, McCray's family moved west while he was still a child. He enrolled at University High in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

, then attended

West Los Angeles Junior College West Los Angeles College (West L.A. College or WLAC) is a public community college in Culver City, Los Angeles County, California. It is part of the California Community Colleges System and the Los Angeles Community College District. It is accre ...

and Santa Monica Junior College. The speedy outfielder was drafted in the first round by the

in 1982 and then by the

Los Angeles Dodgers The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Div ...

in 1983, but opted to stay in school. Finally, he signed with the

San Diego Padres The San Diego Padres are an American professional baseball team based in San Diego. The Padres compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Division. ...

in 1984. After four years in the Padres chain, the White Sox claimed him in the 1987 minor league draft. Never much of a hitter (his career minor league

batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average is ...

was just .226), McCray proved effective by drawing walks (enough to pump his career

on-base percentage In baseball statistics, on-base percentage (OBP) measures how frequently a batting (baseball), batter reaches base (baseball), base. An official Major League Baseball (MLB) statistic since 1984, it is sometimes referred to as on-base average (OBA ...

up to .362) and stealing bases (as many as 91 in one season, with Charleston in 1986). After making the majors with the White Sox in 1990, McCray was sent back down to the AAA

Vancouver Canadians The Vancouver Canadians are a Minor League Baseball (MiLB) team located in Vancouver, British Columbia. They are members of the Northwest League and the High-A affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays. The Canadians play their home games at Nat Bail ...

of the

Pacific Coast League The Pacific Coast League (PCL) is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the Western United States. Along with the International League, it is one of two leagues playing at the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A level, which is one grade bel ...

the following year. On May 27, 1991, at Civic Stadium (now

Providence Park Providence Park (formerly Jeld-Wen Field; PGE Park; Civic Stadium; originally Multnomah Stadium; and from 1893 until the stadium was built, Multnomah Field) is an outdoor soccer venue located in the Goose Hollow neighborhood of Portland, Oregon ...

) in

Portland, Oregon Portland ( ) is the List of cities in Oregon, most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon, located in the Pacific Northwest region. Situated close to northwest Oregon at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, ...

, McCray chased after a fly ball hit by Portland's Chip Hale. McCray initially made the catch, but immediately turned to run right through a plywood fence in right field, just to the right of the marker, which caused him to drop the ball. The play was shown repeatedly on newscasts across the country; a video clip of the play is now part of a blooper reel looped at the

Baseball Hall of Fame The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum is a history museum and hall of fame in Cooperstown, New York, operated by a private foundation. It serves as the central collection and gathering space for the history of baseball in the United S ...

. McCray made it back up to the White Sox later that year, but was used almost exclusively as a

pinch runner In baseball or softball, a pinch runner is a player substituted into a game for the purpose of base running. Description A pinch runner may be faster or otherwise more skilled at base running than the player for whom the pinch runner has been s ...

and backup outfielder. After signing with the

in 1992, McCray was again relegated to pinch running until May 8 against the Dodgers in

Shea Stadium William A. Shea Municipal Stadium ( ), typically shortened to Shea Stadium, was a multi-purpose stadium in Flushing Meadows–Corona Park in Queens, New York City.Eddie Murray Eddie Clarence Murray (born February 24, 1956), nicknamed "Steady Eddie", is an American former Major League Baseball (MLB) first baseman, designated hitter, and coach. Spending most of his MLB career with the Baltimore Orioles, he ranks fourth ...

, stayed in the game as the right fielder and then batted in the ninth with two men on and the score tied at 3-3. Off reliever Tim Crews, McCray delivered a game-winning single in what was to be his only major league at-bat of 1992 (and the final one of his career). After appearing in two more games as a pinch runner, the Mets released McCray on June 8; after batting .242 in 61 games for the independent Thunder Bay Whiskey Jacks of the Northern League in 1993, he retired as a player. McCray played in 67 major league games but logged just fourteen at-bats (with three hits), while stealing nine bases in ten attempts.

Personal life

McCray served as a roving outfield and baserunning instructor for years in the minor league systems of the

Montreal Expos The Montreal Expos () were a Canadian professional baseball team based in Montreal. The Expos were the first Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise located outside the United States. They played in the National League (baseball), National League ...

Kansas City Royals The Kansas City Royals are an American professional baseball team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Royals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. The team ...

Cincinnati Reds The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. The Reds compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Divisi ...

and

. On August 12, 2006, McCray was honored in Portland with the "Rodney McCray Bobblehead Night", honoring his memorable crash through the wall. McCray threw out the first pitch, and right-center field of PGE Park was renamed "McCray Alley" in his honor. "I just wish I had run through something like a

Coca-Cola Coca-Cola, or Coke, is a cola soft drink manufactured by the Coca-Cola Company. In 2013, Coke products were sold in over 200 countries and territories worldwide, with consumers drinking more than 1.8 billion company beverage servings ...

sign so I could have gotten endorsements," McCray said. "Instead, I ran through a local sign, `Flav-R-Pac meats.'"

ESPN ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...

, in its series '' Who's Number 1?'', ranked the fence incident as the seventh-favourite sports

blooper A blooper, or gag reel, is short clip from a film, television program or video production, usually a deleted scene, containing a mistake made by a member of the cast or crew. It also refers to an error made during a live radio or TV broadcast or ...

of all time. ''

The Best Damn Sports Show Period ''The Best Damn Sports Show Period'' was an American sports television show that aired on Fox Sports Net and Comcast SportsNet. The show regularly featured irreverent and opinionated interviews with top athletes, coaches, celebrities, and entert ...

'' ranked the incident number one in their countdown of the Top 50 Devastating Hits in sports history. On June 4, 2019, McCray's son Grant was drafted by the

San Francisco Giants The San Francisco Giants are an American professional baseball team based in San Francisco. The Giants compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Div ...

in the third round of the

2019 MLB Draft The 2019 Major League Baseball draft was held from June 3 to 5, 2019. The draft assigned amateur baseball players to MLB teams. The draft order was set based on the reverse order of the 2018 MLB season standings. In addition, compensation picks ...

. His daughter, Sidney, accepted a scholarship to play

college softball College softball is softball as played on the intercollegiate level at institutions of higher education, predominantly in the United States. College softball is normally played by women at the Intercollegiate level, whereas college baseball is nor ...

Grand Canyon University Grand Canyon University (GCU) is a Private university, private For-profit higher education in the United States, for-profit Christian university in Phoenix, Arizona. The university offers degrees in over 200 areas of study and is administrativel ...

Notes

External links

Video of McCray running through wall
{{DEFAULTSORT:McCray, Rodney 1963 births Living people African-American baseball players American expatriate baseball players in Canada American expatriate baseball players in Mexico Baseball players from Detroit Birmingham Barons players Charleston Rainbows players Chicago White Sox players Major League Baseball outfielders New York Mets players Reno Padres players Santa Monica Corsairs baseball players Sarasota White Sox players South Bend White Sox players Spokane Indians players Baseball players from Los Angeles Sultanes de Monterrey players Thunder Bay Whiskey Jacks players Tidewater Tides players Vancouver Canadians players West Los Angeles Wildcats baseball players 21st-century African-American sportsmen 20th-century African-American sportsmen University High School (Los Angeles) alumni Minor league baseball coaches