The Pecan Park Eagle

Harry MacPherson
8th Youngest MLB Pitcher in History
Dead at Age 90 in Florida on 2/19/17

Obituary for Harry MacPherson

http://www.kays-ponger.com/obituary/178669/Harry-MacPherson/

(transcription in full follows below):

Harry W. MacPherson, 90, passed away on February 19, 2017, in Englewood, Florida.

Whether he was on the golf course, enjoying a walk in the woods or taking to the ski slopes in New Hampshire, Harry MacPherson was a born athlete who believed life was best spent on the move.

Sports enthusiast, animal and nature lover and caring father and husband, Harry will be dearly missed.

Harry was born in North Andover, Massachusetts. At the age of 17, he was one of the youngest players to be recruited to the National Baseball League. A right-handed pitcher for the Boston Braves (1944), Harry also played in the minor league for several teams, including Atlanta, Denver, Dallas and others, through 1952. He served in the Navy during World War II.

When he met his true love, Wanda Lee Kenney, he traded in baseball for family life and found a new career with New England Telephone. Harry spent 30 years with the phone company and retired as an engineer in 1984.

Harry and Wanda, who passed in 1997, enjoyed a long and fulfilling retirement in Florida. Their later years included many rounds of golf, beach picnics, beautiful sunsets, family visits, time with their three adored grandchildren and endless laughs and good times with dear friends.

Harry leaves three children, Donald MacPherson and his wife, Robin MacPherson, Jon MacPherson and Linda MacPherson Davidson; three beloved grandchildren, Brian MacPherson, Todd MacPherson and Mack Davidson; and his little Schnauzer, Duchess.

A memorial celebration will be held in the spring. Expressions of sympathy, in lieu of flowers, can be made in Harry’s memory to the Fisher Center for Alzheimer’s Research Foundation at Alzinfo.org.

Lemon Bay Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements. You may express your condolences to the family at lemonbayfh.com

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Harry MacPherson
Had a Career ERA of 0.00
For I MLB Inning Pitched
August 14, 1944

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_MacPherson

(transcription in full follows below):

Harry William MacPherson (July 10, 1926 – February 19, 2017) was a right-handed pitcher who appeared in one game for the Boston Braves in 1944. At the age of 18, he was the eighth-youngest player to appear in a National League game that season. He was born in North Andover, Massachusetts.

MacPherson is one of many ballplayers who only appeared in the major leagues during World War II. On August 14, 1944 he came in to pitch the bottom of the eighth inning of a road game that the Braves lost to the Pittsburgh Pirates 5-0. Facing four batters, he allowed one walk and no runs in his one inning of work. His lifetime ERA stands at 0.00. MacPherson died February 19, 2017 in Englewood, Florida.

MacPherson gave up no hits in his one-inning afternoon in the sun as an 18-year old MLB pitcher, but he did manage to strike out one batter in his single shot big time appearance.

That’s one more inning, one more strike out, and one more scoreless, hitless inning on a big league mound than the rest of us few million ancient wannabes ever chalked up over the same relatively long ago period of time on the 20th century calendar.

Minor leagues (6 Seasons, 1946-1951)

MacPherson went on to a 37-31 minor league career record, but never pitched again in the big leagues. His time included a 6-4 mark for the 1948 Texas League foes of the Houston Buffs, the Dallas Eagles. Harry’s minor league page at Baseball Reference.Com incorrectly shows him as being 17 when he pitched his one big league inning for the Braves, but that display is incorrect. MacPherson already had turned 18 in July 1944, one month and four days earlier than his August one time MLB shot as an 18-year old right-handed pitcher.

http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/m/macphha01.shtml

Godspeed, Harry! Sounds like you and your sweetheart, Wanda, had a pretty nice extended ride through our little valley of cheers and tears. May the God that Is Love continue to bless your surviving family and other close friends, even though your physical presence has now moved on.

And thank you too, Matt Rejmaniak and Mike McCroskey for sharing your e-mail about the passing of one of baseball’s once youngest MLB pitchers.

We couldn’t find any immediate documentation on Mike McCroskey’s claim that Harry MacPherson became known as “The Boston Blanker”, but we will be most happy to print further comment on how this came to be – from Mike – or from whomever has anything on how that came to be. These guys who made it to the big leagues for all these “one-and-done” moments shall always have a place in the history of the game too. Their resumes may not glow like those of Cy Young and Walter Johnson, but they too once glowed briefly – even if it were only for one inning of one afternoon in a losing cause at Pittsburgh on an otherwise hot and pointless game being played out in the dog days of a wartime season summer.

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 Bill McCurdy

Publisher, Editor, Writer

The Pecan Park Eagle

Houston, Texas