LOCAL LEGENDS IN THE PROS: McClain Made Memorable Major League Debut

BY TIM HAYES
BRISTOL HERALD COURIER

JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. — When reflecting on his two seasons as a major league pitcher, Johnson City native Joe McClain remains humble.

“I was fortunate enough to get to the big leagues,” McClain said. “I didn’t do anything spectacular.”

To the contrary, McClain’s major-league debut on April 14, 1961, turned out to be a pretty spectacular day.

McClain had been signed by the St. Louis Cardinals organization in 1953 and had been toiling in the minor leagues for several years, awaiting an opportunity to display his skills at the highest level.

That’s where the Washington Senators came in.

The original Washington Senators had moved to Minnesota in 1960, but and expansion team with the same nickname began play in the nation’s capital in 1961.

One of the first moves the new club made was to select McClain in the expansion draft. McClain had been putting up impressive numbers for a minor league team in Charleston, W.Va.

In his mid-April debut, the 27-year-old right-hander took the mound at Griffith Stadium against the Cleveland Indians. In a sign of things to come, he retired all three batters he faced in the first inning.

McClain worked nine strong innings, yielding two runs on seven hits and striking out two in the complete-game effort. His first win helped the expansion team claim its first victory.
To make things even better, he collected his first big-league hit by ripping a RBI double to center field off Cleveland starter Gary Bell in the third inning.

McClain pitched in 43 games for the Senators during the 1961 and 1962 seasons, compiling an 8-22 record with one save and a 4.42 ERA.

But the numbers and results aren’t the things McClain dwells on.

“The thing that I value most to this day was the people that I met,” he said. “I met some wonderful, wonderful people. Managers, players, fans and higher-up officials that were just super people.”
Science Hill superstar
McClain was a three-sport standout at Science Hill High School, finding success in football, baseball and track and field. In fact, he set a state record in the javelin throw.

However, McClain earned the most acclaim playing baseball. In his three seasons on the varsity, he helped Science Hill become of the area’s top prep teams, and the Hilltoppers qualified for the state tournament three years in a row.

A plethora of scouts also began to follow Science Hill and the school’s star pitcher.

His stock among scouts rose the summer after his senior year when he pitched for the Saltville Alkalies, a successful semi-pro team that featured several former and current pro players.

McClain initially passed on pro baseball at the urging of his father and spent one season at the University of Tennessee. However, he left the Volunteers’ program and decided to begin his path to the majors.

“I just didn’t like it,” McClain said of UT. “It was too big.”

Paying his dues
After signing with the St. Louis organization, McClain was assigned to his hometown team — Johnson City of the Appalachian League.

That season, he hurt his arm. That created problems that would haunt him for the rest of his career.

“I pitched an afternoon game in Bristol and then we went to Bristol that night and I played in the outfield,” McClain said. “They had a guy on second base and I was playing center field and somebody hit a short line drive to me. I made the throw and when I did my elbow popped. I thought, ‘Oh Lord, this is it.’ ”

McClain didn’t pitch again until the last day of the season in Wytheville. Throughout the rest of his career, McClain’s arm was subject to a bevy of cortisone shots and other remedies.

“I would have liked to gone through my career with the arm I had before I got hurt and see where the cards fell,” McClain said. “I may have never got up there, I don’t know. I went from throwing a lot of fastballs to mainly throwing offspeed pitches a lot. I had good control.”

That control was one reason that Washington gave McClain a chance.

The summer of ’61
The 1961 season is remembered mostly for the New York Yankees’ dominance, as well as Roger Maris’ and Mickey Mantle’s assault on Babe Ruth’s single-season home-run record.

Maris would blast 61 homers to break the record, while Mantle finished with 54. McClain got a close look at both of them.

“I just want you to know that Mr. Maris did not hit one off me that year that I can recall. Mantle hit four,” McClain said with a laugh.

In a July game in Washington, Mantle blasted two home runs off McClain.

“He hit one off me, that I thought you would have to give cab fare to get where it landed,” McClain said. “They had a real good ballclub, and it was a hard lineup to face. If you made mistake with them, they hurt you.”

That summer, McClain also pitched two complete-game shutouts. He blanked the Boston Red Sox on May 4 and shut down the Minnesota Twins on July 7. Both games were at Griffith Stadium.

“I liked it there,” McClain said. “We had pretty good crowds to have no better team than we did, I suppose. We played pretty good at home.”

McClain finished that season with an 8-18 record and 3.86 ERA in 33 appearances. He logged a team-high 212 innings and was named the team’s top rookie.

However, he went 0-4 with a 9.38 ERA in 10 games for the Senators in 1962 and was sent to the minors. One year later, he retired.

These days
As he sat in his Johnson City home last week, McClain smiled as he recalled his baseball history. A few momentos from his playing days are present on the walls of his house, and he has plenty of stories to tell.

He played in front of Fidel Castro while taking part in winter ball in Cuba. He faced the likes of Mantle, Maris, Harmon Killebrew and Carl Yastrzemski. He got to pitch in the nation’s capital.

“Baseball’s a sport, but it’s work too,” McClain said. “You work for what you get.”

| (276) 645-2570