Roger Hornsby McKee (September 16, 1926 – September 1, 2014) was a

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

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, ...

who played from 1943-44 for the

Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. The Phillies compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East Division. Since 2004, the team's home stadium has ...

while still a teenager.

Early life

Roger McKee was born in

Shelby, North Carolina Shelby is a city in and the county seat of Cleveland County, North Carolina. It lies near the western edge of the Charlotte, North Carolina, Charlotte-Concord, North Carolina, Concord, North Carolina, NC-South Carolina, SC Charlotte metropolitan a ...

in September 16, 1926, just a few weeks before his namesake,

Rogers Hornsby Rogers Hornsby (April 27, 1896 – January 5, 1963), nicknamed "the Rajah", was an American baseball infielder, manager (baseball), manager, and coach (baseball), coach who played 23 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB). He played for the St. ...

, led the

St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Centra ...

to victory in the 1926 World Series. (While McKee was usually called "Roger''s''", with a final "s", official records such as his

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

draft registration card and the 1940 Census indicate that he was given the more common first name, Roger.)

Baseball career

Desperate for players, as many had gone off to war, the Phillies took a flyer on the 16-year-old McKee in 1943; he was the youngest player to appear in a

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 ...

game that season. He made his major league debut on August 18, 1943, in a home doubleheader against the

Shibe Park Shibe Park ( , rhymes with "vibe"), known later as Connie Mack Stadium, was a ballpark located in Philadelphia. It was the home of the Philadelphia Athletics of the American League (AL) from 1909 to 1954 and the Philadelphia Phillies of the Natio ...

. On October 3, 1943, the last day of the season, McKee started the second game of a doubleheader against the

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

Forbes Field Forbes Field was a baseball park in the Oakland (Pittsburgh), Oakland neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, from 1909 to June 28, 1970. It was the third home of the Pittsburgh Pirates, the city's Major League Baseball (MLB) team, and the fir ...

and pitched a

complete game In baseball, a complete game (CG) is the act of a pitcher pitching an entire game without the benefit of a relief pitcher. A pitcher who meets this criterion will be credited with a complete game regardless of the number of innings played—pitche ...

, winning 11–3. 17 years and 17 days old at the time, McKee thus became the youngest pitcher in baseball history to be credited with a win and to throw a nine-inning complete-game victory; no pitcher as young as McKee has accomplished this since. In 1944, the then-17-year-old pitcher spent most the season with the

Wilmington Blue Rocks The Wilmington Blue Rocks are a Minor League Baseball team of the South Atlantic League and the High-A affiliate of the Washington Nationals. They are located in Wilmington, Delaware, and play their home games at Daniel S. Frawley Stadium. Fra ...

, batting .225 as a first baseman and going 6-8 with a 4.25 ERA on the mound. But with the war still on, McKee got another chance to pitch in the majors; on September 26, 1944, he appeared in a contest against the

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Division. Th ...

in which Philadelphia was already trailing, 14-0. McKee tossed the final two innings of the game, allowing only one additional run; it would be his last MLB contest. Overall, he posted a 1–0 record and a 5.87

earned run average In baseball statistics, earned run average (ERA) is the average of earned runs allowed by a pitcher per nine innings pitched (i.e. the traditional length of a game). It is determined by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the number ...

in five games (one start), allowing 10 runs on 14

hits Hits or H.I.T.S. may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * '' H.I.T.S.'', 1991 album by New Kids on the Block * ''...Hits'' (Phil Collins album), 1998 * ''Hits'' (compilation series), 1984–2006; 2014, a British compilation album s ...

and six walks, while

striking out ''Striking Out'' is an Television in the Republic of Ireland, Irish television legal drama television series, broadcast on RTÉ, that first aired on 1 January 2017, based on ''The Good Wife'' by Robert King (writer), Robert and Michelle King. Prod ...

one in 15

innings An innings is one of the divisions of a cricket match during which one team takes its turn to bat. Innings also means the period in which an individual player bats (acts as either striker or nonstriker). In cricket and rounders, "innings" is ...

of work. McKee was in the Navy in 1945, but returned to baseball the following year to play with the Phillies farm club in

Terre Haute Terre Haute ( ) is a city in Vigo County, Indiana, United States, and its county seat. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 58,389 and its metropolitan area had a population of 168,716. Located along the Wabash River about e ...

. He later switched to the

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 ...

, but never returned to the big leagues, spending nine seasons in the minors through 1957, collecting a

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 ...

of .287 and 115

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the Baseball (ball), ball is hit in such a way that the batting (baseball), batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safe (baseball), safely in one play without any error ( ...

s in 1,173 games. In 2014, Roger McKee died in his hometown of Shelby, North Carolina, 15 days short before of his 88th birthday.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:McKee, Rogers 1926 births 2014 deaths Sportspeople from Shelby, North Carolina Baseball players from North Carolina Baton Rouge Rebels players Baton Rouge Red Sticks players Charlotte Hornets (baseball) players Columbus Red Birds players Lynchburg Cardinals players Major League Baseball pitchers Newton-Conover Twins players Philadelphia Phillies players Rock Hill Chiefs players St. Petersburg Saints players Shelby Farmers players Shreveport Sports players Tampa Smokers players Terre Haute Phillies players Topeka Hawks players Wilmington Blue Rocks players 20th-century American sportsmen