Joe McGinnity - Legacy

Legacy

McGinnity finished his MLB career with 246 career wins, seven 20-win seasons, and two 30-win seasons. He had nearly 500 professional wins including his years in the minor leagues. McGinnity set a career record in batters hit by pitch with 152. He revolutionized the fielding of the pitching position, by attempting to make force outs at any base, instead of only throwing the ball to first base.

After his death, McGinnity was eulogized as "hard player" and "a fighter with brains" who hated to lose. Jennings described him as an even better fielder than he was a pitcher. McGraw said that McGinnity was "the hardest working pitcher I ever had on my ballcub". Connie Mack called him a "magician".

After failing to receive the necessary votes from the Baseball Writers Association of America for entry in the National Baseball Hall of Fame on seven occasions, McGinnity was elected to the Hall of Fame posthumously by the Veterans Committee in the 1946 balloting. He was also inducted into the Quad City Sports Hall of Fame in 1988.

In a 1976 article in Esquire magazine, sportswriter Harry Stein published an "All Time All-Star Argument Starter," consisting of five ethnic baseball teams. Though Stein chose McGinnity as the right-handed pitcher for the Irish team, the team was omitted from the article due to space limitations. The Irish team was included in The Book of Lists, published the following year. Lawrence Ritter and Donald Honig included McGinnity in their 1981 book, The 100 Greatest Baseball Players of All Time. The Chicago Tribune included McGinnity in their all-time Illinois team in 1990.