Steven Earl McCatty (born March 20, 1954) is an American former professional baseball

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 for the

Oakland Athletics The Oakland Athletics (frequently referred to as the Oakland A's) were an American Major League Baseball (MLB) team based in Oakland, California from 1968 to 2024. The Athletics were a member club of the American League (AL) American League We ...

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 ...

(MLB) from 1977 to 1985. He graduated from Troy High School in

Troy, Michigan Troy is a city in Oakland County, Michigan, Oakland County in the U.S. state of Michigan. A northern suburb of Metro Detroit, Detroit, Troy is located about north of downtown Detroit. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 87,294, ...

, in 1972. He coached the

Washington Nationals The Washington Nationals are an American professional baseball team based in Washington, D.C. The Nationals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East Division. They play their home games at Na ...

from 2009 through 2015.

Baseball career

Playing career

On August 10, 1980, McCatty pitched a 14-inning game against the

Seattle Mariners The Seattle Mariners are an American professional baseball team based in Seattle. The Mariners compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League West, West Division. The team joined the American ...

, only to lose 2–1. During the

1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 6 – A funeral service is held in West Germany for Nazi Grand Admiral ...

strike-shortened season, McCatty finished the season with a league leading 2.33 ERA, second in the

American League The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is the younger of two sports leagues, leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western L ...

Sammy Stewart Samuel Lee Stewart (October 28, 1954 – March 2, 2018) was an American professional baseball player. He pitched in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1978 to 1987. Stewart had the best earned run average (ERA) in the American League (AL) in 1981 ...

's 2.32 mark and was tied with three others for most wins with 14, including a league leading four shutouts, the last two of which were consecutive starts for McCatty. He also finished second for the

Cy Young Award The Cy Young Award is given annually to the best pitchers in Major League Baseball (MLB), one each for the American League (AL) and National League (baseball), National League (NL). The award was introduced in 1956 by Commissioner of Baseball ( ...

, behind

Rollie Fingers Roland Glen Fingers (born August 25, 1946) is an American former right-handed relief pitcher in Major League Baseball who played for three teams between 1968 and 1985. His effectiveness helped to redefine the value of relievers within baseball an ...

. However, McCatty would never even approach his 1981 form again. A number of baseball historians and statisticians blame this on manager

Billy Martin Alfred Manuel "Billy" Martin Jr. (May 16, 1928 – December 25, 1989) was an American Major League Baseball second baseman and manager who, in addition to leading other teams, was five times the manager of the New York Yankees. First known ...

overworking McCatty and the other members of the 1981 staff. In 2006,

Rob Neyer Rob Neyer (born October 22, 1965) is an American baseball writer known for his use of statistical analysis or sabermetrics. He started his career working for Bill James and STATS and then joined ESPN.com as a columnist and blogger from 1996 to 20 ...

estimated that McCatty threw 131 pitches per complete game in 1981, a heavy workload for a young pitcher even then. However, McCatty never blamed Martin for his post-1981 decline. During a

1982 Events January * January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00). * January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street Bridge in Washington, D.C. ...

exhibition game against 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. ...

, McCatty stepped to the plate wielding a toy 15-inch bat but umpire

Jim Quick James Edward Quick (born September 6, 1943) is an American former Major League Baseball umpire who worked in the National League in and again from to . Quick wore uniform number 15 for most of his career. Minor leagues Quick began his umpirin ...

would not allow him to hit. McCatty did this on orders from Martin, who was furious that the

designated hitter The designated hitter (DH) is a baseball player who bats in place of another position player, most commonly the pitcher. Unlike other players in a team's lineup, they generally only play as an offensive player and usually do not play defense as ...

rule was not allowed in

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 ...

ballparks, to use the toy bat as a protest.

Coaching career

After retiring as a player in 1986, McCatty remained in professional baseball working in radio and TV for the Oakland A's and with

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 ...

. McCatty later moved on to coach several minor league baseball clubs, and was hired as pitching coach by the

Detroit Tigers The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. One of the AL's eight chart ...

for the 2002 season. He subsequently coached for the

Ottawa Lynx The Ottawa Lynx were a Minor League Baseball team that competed in the Triple-A International League (IL) from 1993 to 2007. The team's home field was Lynx Stadium in Ottawa, Ontario. Over 15 seasons, the team was an affiliate of the Montreal Exp ...

when it was the AAA affiliate of the

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 ...

. During the offseason, McCatty works with youngsters of all ages to teach pitching mechanics at Jason Thompson Baseball in

Auburn Hills Auburn Hills is a city in Oakland County in the U.S. state of Michigan. A northern suburb of Detroit, Auburn Hills is located about north of downtown Detroit. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 24,360. Auburn Hills is home to ...

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

. In 2009, McCatty became the second pitching coach in

franchise history, replacing Randy St. Claire, who was fired, and McCatty was called upon to replace him after working at the Nationals' AAA affiliate. The Nationals fired McCatty and the entire coaching staff after the 2015 season.

References

External links

Retrosheet
{{DEFAULTSORT:McCatty, Steve 1954 births Living people American expatriate baseball players in Canada American League wins champions Baseball coaches from Michigan Baseball players from Detroit Buffalo Bisons (minor league) players Chattanooga Lookouts players Detroit Tigers coaches Fort Myers Sun Sox players Lewiston Broncs players Major League Baseball broadcasters Major League Baseball pitchers Major League Baseball pitching coaches Modesto A's players Minor league baseball coaches Oakland Athletics announcers Oakland Athletics players Ogden A's players Sportspeople from Troy, Michigan Baseball players from Oakland County, Michigan San Jose Bees players San Jose Missions players Tucson Toros players Vancouver Canadians players 20th-century American sportsmen