Mickey Cochrane ✝

Cochrane was born in Massachusetts and was a multi-sport athlete at Boston University. After college, he chose baseball over basketball and football. He made his major league debut in 1925, having spent only one season in the minor leagues. He was chosen as the American League (AL) Most Valuable Player in 1928 and he appeared in the World Series from 1929 to 1931. Philadelphia won the first two of those World Series, but Cochrane was criticized for giving up stolen bases when his team lost the series in 1931. Cochrane\'s career batting average (.320) stood as a record for MLB catchers until 2009.\n', ' Cochrane\'s career ended abruptly after a near-fatal head injury from a pitched ball in 1937. After his professional baseball career, he served in the United States Navy in World War II and ran an automobile business. Cochrane died of cancer in 1962. In 1999, The Sporting News ranked him 65th on its list of the 100 Greatest Baseball Players.\n', ' Cochrane was born in Bridgewater, Massachusetts. His father, John Cochrane, had immigrated from Omagh, County Tyrone in what is now Northern Ireland and his mother, Sadie Campbell, had come from Prince Edward Island, Canada, whence her family had immigrated from Scotland. He was also known as "Black Mike" because of his fiery, competitive nature. Cochrane was educated at Boston University, where he played five sports, excelling at football and basketball. Although Cochrane considered himself a better football player than a baseball player, professional football was not as established as Major League Baseball at the time, so he signed with the Portland Beavers of the Pacific Coast League in 1924.\n', '