Joe McCabe (baseball)

Joe Robert McCabe (born August 27, 1938) is a retired American baseball catcher, who played in Major League Baseball during the 1964 and 1965 seasons. The 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m), 195 lb (88 kg) McCabe was born in Indianapolis, Indiana. He attended Purdue University, where he played college baseball for the Boilermakers from 1956–1960.^[1][2]

McCabe was inducted into the Purdue Athletic Hall of Fame. He holds the all-time highest batting average (.423 for the season and .438 in the Big Ten). Elected Captain and MVP on the 1960 baseball team which also consisted of 6 future professional baseball players.

McCabe was signed by the "original" Washington Senators (now the Minnesota Twins) as an amateur free agent in 1960.^[3] He made his Major League debut on April 18, 1964, for the Twins.^[1] He was traded to the expansion edition of the Senators (now the Texas Rangers) for Ken Retzer on October 15, 1964.^[3] His last game was on May 22, 1965.^[1]

Set a consecutive game hitting streak for 1962 Vancouver Mounties of Pacific Coast League – 21 – record stands.

After baseball, he became an airline pilot with ATP (Airline Transport Pilot) ratings on Boeing 707s, 720s, 727s, 737s, 747s, 747-400s, 757s, 767s, L-1011s, DC-10s, and one of the first to qualify on the 777s. The only person to have accomplished both – of playing in the big leagues and piloting the large commercial airliners for major carriers – Pan American and United Airlines.

In September 2016, Joe was inducted into the Purdue Athletic Hall of fame.^[4]

In July 2019, Joe was honored as a Significant Sig by the Sigma Chi Fraternity for his accomplishments after college.^[5] In 2000, Joe testified before a sub-committee of Congress attempting to raise the mandatory age of retirement for pilots to age 65. The age was consequently raised for all commercial pilots.