McCosky was born in Coal Run, Pennsylvania, the last of nine children. His mother died when he was one year old, and McCosky moved to Detroit at age 4 with his older brother Tony McCosky. McCosky grew up in Detroit in the midst of the Great Depression. He later recalled: "Nobody had any money. We took mustard sandwiches and ketchup sandwiches to school." (Richard Bak, "Cobb Would Have Caught It: The Golden Age of Baseball in Detroit" (Wayne State 1991), p. 285.) McCosky attended Southwestern High School in Detroit, Michigan, where he was All-City and captain in both baseball and basketball. McCosky had a .727 batting average his senior year—a Detroit public school record.\n', '

In 1936, McCosky was signed out of high school by scout Wish Egan. In 1936, he hit .400 for Charleston, West Virginia and led the Mid-Atlantic League his first year in professional baseball. He played next for Beaumont, Texas, and in 1939 the Tigers invited him to spring training in Lakeland, Florida. A photograph of McCosky as a rookie in spring training can be seen on the Lakeland Public Library web site. McCosky made the team and was the Tigers\' starting center fielder on Opening Day in Detroit.\n', '

In an 11-season career, McCosky was a .312 hitter with 24 home runs and 397 RBI in 1170 games played. McCosky was a good contact hitter who hit over .300 in six of his first seven seasons. A fine outfielder with a strong throwing arm, he collected a .984 fielding average with only 41 errors in 2579 chances.\n', '

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