Danny MacFayden

Daniel Knowles MacFayden (June 10, 1905 – August 26, 1972) was an American starting and relief pitcher in Major League Baseball.

In 1920, his mother moved the family to Somerville, located across the Charles River from Boston.

His father had died when he was four years old, and they went to live with his mother Sarah's brother, building contractor Joshua Knowles.

His uncle eventually adopted Danny.

MacFayden was captain of the Somerville High School baseball team in 1923, a team that boasted three future major leaguers: MacFayden, Josh Billings and Shanty Hogan.

He played in the semi-pro Boston Twilight League in the summers of 1923 and 1924.

On May 7, 1924, pitching for Somerville against Everett High, MacFayden struck out between 31 and 33 batters in 17 innings while giving up only four hits.

He lost the game 2–1.

After graduating from Somerville High in 1924, he attended Hebron Academy (Hebron, Maine) to prepare himself for attending college.

His mother wanted him to go to Dartmouth College.

In 1924 he played for the Osterville town team in the Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL) and posted a 9–2 record.

Playing alongside his Somerville High teammate and fellow future-major leaguer Shanty Hogan, the pair led Osterville to the league title.

In 1925, MacFayden returned to the CCBL with Falmouth.

From 1926 through 1943, he played for the Boston Red Sox (1926–1932), New York Yankees (1932–1934), Cincinnati Reds (1935), Boston Braves/Bees/Braves (1935–1939, 1943), Pittsburgh Pirates (1940) and Washington Senators (1941).

In a 17-season career, he posted a 132–159 record with 797 strikeouts and a 3.96 earned run average in 2706 innings pitched.

He did not play in the minor leagues but went straight to the Red Sox, making his debut on August 25, 1926, against the Detroit Tigers as a reliever.

He was the first pitcher in the American League to wear eyeglasses, which corrected for near-sightedness.

After one more relief stint, MacFayden made his first start against the legendary Walter Johnson of the Washington Senators on September 4, 1926.

He lost 5–1, throwing a complete game.

In 1928, he was the Boston Red Sox's Opening Day pitcher, making his season debut in Griffith Stadium in Washington, D.C., with another native New Englander, President Calvin Coolidge in attendance.

He won 7–5.

In his five years with the Red Sox, he was a relatively mediocre pitcher with an abysmal team, though he did lead the league with four shutouts in 1928, a year he went 10–18 with a 3.62 ERA.

Ruppert might have been thinking of MacFayden's stellar performance against the Yankees on May 24, 1929, the year he led the league in shutouts.

In a game he started at Fenway Park, MacFayden shutout the famed "Murderer's Row", throwing a four-hitter.

He did load the bases with no outs one inning, but then retired the heart of the order, Lou Gehrig, Babe Ruth, and Tony Lazzeri, striking out both Gehrig and Lazzeri.

(He would return to Hebron in the 1931–32 offseason to serve as the school's hockey coach.)

In 1932, after going 1–10 to start the season, he was traded to the New York Yankees for pitchers Ivy Andrews and Hank Johnson and $50,000 in cash.

Both pitchers were on the disabled list at the time, but the trade seemed lopsided in favor of the Red Sox.

The speculation was that Yankees owner Jacob Ruppert was trying to keep MacFayden away from contending teams.

In his 17 games for The Bronx Bombers in the 1932 season, 15 were starts, and he went 7–5 with a 3.93 ERA.

The Yankees, anchored by Hall of Famers Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Tony Lazzeri and Bill Dickey among position players and Hall of Fame starting pitchers Lefty Gomez, Herb Pennock and Red Ruffing on the mound went on to win 107 games and sweep the Chicago Cubs in the World Series.

The Yankees' post-season roster carried only six pitchers, however, and MacFayden wasn't one of them.

His best season was 1936, when he earned 17 victories with 86 strikeouts and a 2.87 ERA, all career bests.

He batted and pitched right-handed.

His best pitch was a side-arm curveball.

MacFayden's serious demeanor won him the nickname "Deacon Danny", though New York World-Telegram sportswriter Dan Daniel, a harsh critic of his play, called him "Dismal Danny" when he was with the Yankees.

MacFayden was born in North Truro, Massachusetts, on Cape Cod.

He was inducted into the CCBL Hall of Fame in 2012.

MacFayden was signed by Boston Red Sox owner Bob Quinn after he saw him pitching in the Twilight League.

He decided to give up going to Dartmouth as a pro baseball career offered him financial security, which would enable him to help his mother.