Jim McCormick

Pitcher · Career Stats, Bio & Records (1878-1887)

Jim McCormick was a pitcher who played in Major League Baseball from 1878 to 1887 for 6 teams, including the Indianapolis Blues, a span of 10 seasons. Across 492 career appearances, he went 265-214 with a 2.43 ERA and 1,704 strikeouts. He also batted .236 with 4 home runs. His career Pitcher PIV — Baseball Data Hub's era-adjusted measure of pitching impact — is 5815.0.

W (Wins):
Games credited to a pitcher whose team took a lead it never surrendered while he was the pitcher of record.
ERA (Earned Run Average):
Earned runs allowed per nine innings pitched: (ER × 9) ÷ IP. The primary measure of pitching effectiveness.
SO (Strikeouts):
For a batter, times retired on a third strike; for a pitcher, batters retired on a third strike.
WHIP (Walks and Hits per Inning Pitched):
Baserunners allowed per inning: (BB + H) ÷ IP. Under 1.00 is elite.

Data updated

W–L 265–214
ERA 2.43
WHIP 1.13
SO 1,704
Pitcher PIV 5815.0
Position
Pitcher
Bats / Throws
R / R
Height / Weight
5'10" / 215 lb
Born
11/3/1856 in Glasgow, Glasgow, Scotland
Died
3/10/1918 in Paterson, NJ, USA
MLB Debut
1878-05-20
Last Game
1887-10-07

Full name: James McCormick

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Career Pitching Statistics

Jim McCormick — Career Pitching Statistics
W L G GS CG SHO SV IP H ER HR BB SO ERA Pitcher PIV
265 214 492 485 466 33 1 4275.2 4,092 1,155 82 749 1,704 2.43 5815.0

Career ERA 2.43 vs. league average 3.18 across their career seasons — 23.5% better than league average.

Season-by-Season Pitching

Pitching Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Jim McCormick (b. 1856) Stats, Bio & Career Records
Year Team Lg W L G GS CG SHO SV IP H ER BB SO ERA Lg ERA Pitcher PIV
1878 IN1 NL 5 8 14 14 12 1 0 117.0 128 22 15 36 1.69 2.30 (+27%) -3.5
1879 CL2 NL 20 40 62 60 59 3 0 546.1 582 147 74 197 2.42 2.50 (+3%) 8.6
1880 CL2 NL 45 28 74 74 72 7 0 657.2 585 135 75 260 1.85 2.37 (+22%) 4767.0
1881 CL2 NL 26 30 59 58 57 2 0 526.0 484 143 84 178 2.45 2.77 (+12%) 2767.5
1882 CL2 NL 36 30 68 67 65 4 0 595.2 550 157 103 200 2.37 2.80 (+15%) -1689.6
1883 CL2 NL 28 12 43 41 36 1 1 342.0 316 70 65 145 1.84 3.22 (+43%) 1879.1
1884 CL2 NL 19 22 42 41 39 3 0 359.0 357 114 75 182 2.86 3.11 (+8%) -3210.6
1884 CNU UA 21 3 24 24 24 7 0 210.0 151 36 14 161 1.54 3.11 (+50%) 5413.8
1885 PRO NL 1 3 4 4 4 0 0 37.0 34 10 20 8 2.43 3.03 (+20%) -1285.1
1885 CHN NL 20 4 24 24 24 3 0 215.0 187 58 40 88 2.43 3.03 (+20%) -387.3
1886 CHN NL 31 11 42 42 38 2 0 347.2 341 109 100 172 2.82 3.37 (+16%) -2412.8
1887 PIT NL 13 23 36 36 36 0 0 322.1 377 154 84 77 4.30 4.17 (-3%) -32.1
Career · 12 seasons 265 214 492 485 466 33 1 4,275.2 4,092 1,155 749 1,704 2.43 — 5,815

Lg columns show the league average for that season, with the player's figure as a percentage above or below it. Career totals the seasons listed above.

Career Batting Statistics

Jim McCormick — Career Batting Statistics
G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO AVG OBP SLG OPS PIV
534 2,082 246 491 66 22 4 178 10 22 127 .236 .244 .294 .538 -3,798

Career AVG .236 vs. league average .252 across their career seasons — 6.3% below league average.

Career OBP .244 vs. league average .292 across their career seasons — 16.4% below league average.

Career SLG .294 vs. league average .337 across their career seasons — 12.6% below league average.

Career OPS .538 vs. league average .629 across their career seasons — 14.4% below league average.

Season-by-Season Batting

Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Jim McCormick (b. 1856) Stats, Bio & Career Records
Year Team Lg G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO AVG Lg AVG Lg OBP Lg SLG Lg OPS PIV
1878 IN1 NL 15 56 5 8 1 0 0 0 0 0 2 .143 .259 (-45%) .278 (-49%) .319 (-50%) .597 (-49%) -360.8
1879 CL2 NL 75 282 35 62 10 2 0 20 0 1 9 .220 .255 (-14%) .270 (-18%) .328 (-18%) .599 (-18%) -667.7
1880 CL2 NL 78 289 34 71 11 0 0 26 0 5 5 .246 .244 (avg) .267 (-3%) .319 (-11%) .586 (-8%) -258.6
1881 CL2 NL 70 309 45 79 9 4 0 26 0 5 16 .256 .260 (-2%) .290 (-8%) .338 (-8%) .628 (-8%) -362.2
1882 CL2 NL 70 262 35 57 7 3 2 15 0 2 22 .218 .248 (-12%) .275 (-19%) .329 (-12%) .605 (-15%) -560.4
1883 CL2 NL 43 157 21 37 2 2 0 13 0 2 14 .236 .257 (-8%) .285 (-14%) .345 (-21%) .631 (-18%) -382.4
1884 CL2 NL 49 190 15 50 5 4 0 23 0 1 11 .263 .243 (+8%) .278 (-4%) .327 (+1%) .606 (-1%) -76.0
1884 CNU UA 27 110 12 27 3 1 0 0 0 0 0 .245 .243 (+1%) .278 (-12%) .327 (-11%) .606 (-12%) -76.0
1885 PRO NL 4 14 2 3 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 .214 — — — — 0.0
1885 CHN NL 25 103 13 23 1 4 0 16 0 1 18 .223 .244 (-8%) .287 (-20%) .325 (-4%) .613 (-12%) 0.0
1886 CHN NL 42 174 17 41 9 2 2 21 1 2 30 .236 .246 (-4%) .302 (-19%) .331 (+4%) .634 (-7%) -247.3
1887 PIT NL 36 136 12 33 7 0 0 18 9 2 0 .243 .270 (-10%) .331 (-24%) .373 (-21%) .705 (-22%) -494.8
Career · 12 seasons 534 2,082 246 491 66 22 4 178 10 22 127 .236 — — — — -3,486

Lg columns show the league average for that season, with the player's figure as a percentage above or below it. Career totals the seasons listed above.

Postseason Statistics

Playoff Career Batting

Jim McCormick — Playoff Career Batting
G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO AVG
6 20 1 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 .150

Playoff Batting by Year

Jim McCormick — Playoff Batting by Year
Year Round Team G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO AVG
1886 WS CHN 1 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
1885 WS CHN 5 17 1 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 .176

Playoff Career Pitching

Jim McCormick — Playoff Career Pitching
W L G GS SV IP H ER BB SO ERA
3 3 6 6 0 44.0 40 14 8 23 2.86

Playoff Pitching by Year

Jim McCormick — Playoff Pitching by Year
Year Round Team W L G GS SV IP H ER BB SO ERA
1886 WS CHN 0 1 1 1 0 8.0 13 6 2 4 6.75
1885 WS CHN 3 2 5 5 0 36.0 27 8 6 19 2.00

Fielding Statistics

Career Fielding Totals by Position

Jim McCormick — Career Fielding Totals by Position
Position G GS PO A E DP
1B 5 0 48 0 3 2
2B 1 0 2 3 1 0
3B 1 0 3 1 2 0
OF 52 0 68 12 17 3
P 492 0 263 922 99 28

Season-by-Season Fielding

Jim McCormick — Season-by-Season Fielding
Year Team Pos G GS PO A E DP
1878 IN1 OF 3 0 3 1 1 1
1878 IN1 P 14 0 6 32 2 2
1879 CL2 1B 4 0 38 0 1 0
1879 CL2 OF 13 0 20 1 5 0
1879 CL2 P 62 0 39 119 9 4
1880 CL2 OF 5 0 2 0 4 1
1880 CL2 P 74 0 36 135 22 3
1881 CL2 2B 1 0 2 3 1 0
1881 CL2 3B 1 0 3 1 2 0
1881 CL2 OF 10 0 16 7 2 0
1881 CL2 P 59 0 34 81 13 4
1882 CL2 OF 4 0 2 0 2 0
1882 CL2 P 68 0 43 100 13 1
1883 CL2 1B 1 0 10 0 2 2
1883 CL2 OF 1 0 0 0 1 0
1883 CL2 P 43 0 18 101 14 2
1884 CL2 OF 8 0 18 1 2 0
1884 CL2 P 42 0 18 67 0 4
1884 CNU OF 3 0 5 1 0 1
1884 CNU P 24 0 13 50 7 1
1885 PRO P 4 0 2 21 1 0
1885 CHN OF 1 0 1 0 0 0
1885 CHN P 24 0 20 54 4 3
1886 CHN OF 4 0 1 1 0 0
1886 CHN P 42 0 21 74 6 3
1887 PIT P 36 0 13 88 8 1

Career Games by Position

Position Diamond

Circle size = games played at each position.

Jim McCormick (b. 1856) Stats, Bio & Career Records
Position Games
Pitcher 492
First Base 5
Second Base 1
Third Base 1
Left Field 12
Center Field 27
Right Field 13

Most Similar Players

Career comps based on counting + rate stats and primary position. Score is relative — closest peer anchors at ~98%.

Career Spans

Jim McCormick (highlighted) compared to peers across the same era.

  1. 98
    Old Hoss Radbourn HOF
    310-194, 2.68 ERA
  2. 75
    Bobby Mathews
    297-248, 2.86 ERA
  3. 66
    Charlie Buffinton
    233-152, 2.96 ERA
  4. 64
    Mickey Welch HOF
    307-210, 2.71 ERA
  5. 64
    John Clarkson HOF
    328-178, 2.81 ERA
  6. 64
    Will White
    229-166, 2.28 ERA

Jim McCormick: the record in brief

Jim McCormick played a first major league game on May 20, 1878 and a last one on October 7, 1887. McCormick played for the Indianapolis Blues (1878), the Cleveland Blues (1879 to 1884), the Cincinnati Outlaw Reds (1884), the Providence Grays (1885), the Chicago White Stockings (1885 to 1886), and the Pittsburg Alleghenys (1887). McCormick played primarily as a pitcher and both batted and threw right-handed. Born on November 3, 1856, in Glasgow, Glasgow, Scotland, McCormick was listed at 5 feet, 10 inches and 215 pounds. McCormick's death is recorded on March 10, 1918, in Paterson, NJ, USA. The bio lists the given name James.

McCormick's career pitching line is 265 wins, 214 losses and a 2.43 ERA over 492 appearances. The same table counts 1,704 strikeouts, 466 complete games, and 33 shutouts. That 2.43 ERA compares with a 3.18 league average across the same seasons, 23.5% better. No season topped the 45 wins of 1880. 1880 was McCormick's sharpest full season, a 1.85 ERA against the league's 2.37.

Frequently Asked Questions about Jim McCormick

What years did Jim McCormick play?
Jim McCormick played in Major League Baseball from 1878 to 1887.
Was Jim McCormick a pitcher?
Yes. Jim McCormick pitched in the major leagues, recording 265 wins and 1704 strikeouts.
How many home runs did Jim McCormick hit?
Jim McCormick hit 4 career home runs with 491 hits.
What teams did Jim McCormick play for?
Jim McCormick played for 6 teams: the Indianapolis Blues (1878), the Cleveland Blues (1879–1884), the Cincinnati Outlaw Reds (1884), the Providence Grays (1885), the Chicago White Stockings (1885–1886), and the Pittsburg Alleghenys (1887).
What were Jim McCormick's career stats?
In 492 games, Jim McCormick went 265-214 with a 2.43 ERA, 1,704 strikeouts, 4,275.2 innings pitched, and 1 saves. At the plate he had 491 hits and 4 home runs.
What position did Jim McCormick play?
Jim McCormick played primarily as a pitcher, the position where he appeared in the most games.
How tall was Jim McCormick and how much did he weigh?
Jim McCormick was listed at 5 feet 10 inches and 215 pounds.
What was Jim McCormick's career ERA?
Jim McCormick finished with a 2.43 career ERA, going 265-214 with 1,704 strikeouts.
How many strikeouts did Jim McCormick have?
Jim McCormick recorded 1,704 career strikeouts.
Is Jim McCormick in the Hall of Fame?
No. Jim McCormick has not been inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.