Pitcher Dave McNally, one of the cornerstones of the greatest starting rotation in Orioles history and a key figure in baseball's economic revolution of the 1970s, died of cancer Sunday night in his hometown of Billings, Mont. He was 60.
Longtime Orioles fans might remember Mr. McNally best for his world title-clinching 1-0 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1966 and a string of four straight 20-win seasons from 1968 to 1971. He and Orioles pitchers Jim Palmer, Mike Cuellar and Pat Dobson in 1971 became the first four 20-game winners on the same team since 1920.
The biggest victory of his career, however, did not come on a pitcher's mound. Mr. McNally and Andy Messersmith changed the financial face of Major League Baseball forever when they played the 1975 season without signed contracts and filed a grievance through the Major League Baseball Players Association challenging the clause in baseball's bylaws that allowed teams to maintain contractual rights to players in perpetuity.
The "reserve clause" was struck down by arbitrator Peter Seitz on Dec. 23, 1975, clearing the way for players to become free agents and sell their services to the highest bidder. The ruling triggered a salary spiral that has pushed the average annual salary for a major-leaguer from $44,000 in 1975 to $2.38 million at the start of the 2002 season.
"Dave will be remembered as one of the aces of the great Orioles pitching staffs of the late '60s and early '70s as well as for his role in overturning the reserve clause," said baseball commissioner Bud Selig. "He was a great left-handed pitcher who won 20 or more games in four consecutive seasons. My deepest sympathies go out to his family and friends."
"The Orioles organization is deeply saddened by the passing of Dave McNally," Orioles owner Peter G. Angelos said in a statement. "The look of wonderment on his smiling face as Brooks Robinson leaps into his arms after the last out of the 1966 World Series will live forever in the memory of Oriole fans. ... That he was the first pitcher inducted into the Orioles Hall of Fame is testament to his place in Orioles history.
"In addition, his impact on baseball, through his testing of the reserve clause in 1975, left an indelible mark for which all Major League Baseball players should be indebted to him."
Mr. McNally did not benefit greatly from his historic stand. He had retired by the time Mr. Seitz's ruling came down, but thousands of baseball players owe their wealth and collective bargaining leverage to that decision, which was refined in the 1976 labor agreement to allow players to become free agents after six years of major-league service.
The decision also prompted a huge increase in movement of players from team to team, making rarities of one-team stars such as the Orioles' Cal Ripken and San Diego Padres' Tony Gwynn in the free-agent era.
Mr. McNally spent 13 seasons in Baltimore, from 1962 to 1974, and played a major role in the emergence of the Orioles as one of the American League's most successful franchises. He emerged in the late 1960s as one of the best pitchers in the game, with 87 victories from 1968 to 1971. He tied for the league lead in wins in 1970 when he went 24-9.
Though Mr. McNally was overshadowed in the Orioles rotation by Mr. Palmer, he was front and center for several important moments in the history of the Orioles franchise.
He outdueled Don Drysdale in Game 4 of the 1966 World Series, pitching a four-hitter with a sore arm to complete an unlikely sweep of the Los Angeles Dodgers. In 1969, he surrendered a three-run lead in the final game of the Orioles' World Series loss to the Miracle Mets.
Mr. McNally's most dynamic Series moment, however, came at the plate, when he launched a grand slam off Cincinnati Reds pitcher Wayne Granger in the third game of the 1970 Series -- still the only grand slam hit by a pitcher in the fall classic.
Former Orioles first baseman Boog Powell remembers the first time he saw Mr. McNally, when the two were young Orioles prospects in the Arizona Instructional League more than 40 years ago.
"He probably had the best curveball I ever saw," Mr. Powell said. "I thought, 'Oh my gosh, I've got to hit that to get to the big leagues!'
"He had wonderful control. Sometimes it was amazing that he could get by on what he had. He knew how to pitch, and he was a great competitor. Sometimes he didn't look like he had enough to get anybody out, but he threw to hitters' weaknesses and seemed to know what they were looking for. It was fun to play behind him."
Long after he retired, Mr. McNally would look back on his career as a three-act play, beginning with the learning experiences of his first six seasons, the four straight years with 20 or more victories, then the physical decline that eventually led to his retirement after a frustrating half-season with the Montreal Expos in 1975.
"When I look at my career ... it seems to fall into three segments, I think -- stupid, smart and injured," Mr. McNally quipped in 1998.
When he was good, he was very good. He set an American League record with 17 straight victories over two seasons in 1968-1969 that stood until Roger Clemens broke it with 20 straight in 1998-1999, and owns a share of the record for consecutive wins at the start of a season (15 in 1969). His good fortune during a 29-2 run that extended from the All-Star break in 1968 to the beginning of August the next year earned him the nickname "Dave McLucky."
"He was a tremendous individual," said former teammate and Orioles minor-league director Don Buford. "He was very team-oriented, low-key. He was just a peach of a guy."
Mr. McNally finished his career with a 184-119 record and a 3.24 ERA, but raised his performance to a higher level in the postseason, once pitching an 11-inning, 11-strikeout game to beat the Minnesota Twins in the 1969 playoffs and compiling a 7-4 record and 2.89 ERA in five league playoffs and four World Series.
After retiring from baseball, Mr. McNally co-owned car dealerships with his brother in Billings.
Mr. McNally overcame prostate cancer in 1997 but was found to have lung cancer in 1998. He underwent radiation and chemotherapy, but the cancer eventually spread.
"We all grew up together," said Mr. Powell. "It's a great loss for a lot of us personally and a great loss for baseball."
Mr. McNally's family had gathered in Billings over the weekend. His eighth grandchild, Paris Lisi, born Nov. 5, arrived with her parents in time to see her grandfather an hour before what Jeff McNally called his father's "peaceful" death.
Mr. McNally is survived by his mother, Beth McNally of Billings; his wife, Jean McNally; sons Jeff McNally of Salt Lake City and Mike McNally of Billings; daughters Pam Murphy of Billings, Susan Lisi of Walnut Creek, Calif., and Anne Anderson of Leander, Texas; brothers Jim McNally of Billings and Dan McNally of San Bernardino, Calif; a sister, Dee Noble of Billings; and eight grandchildren.
Funeral services will be held Thursday in Billings. The family suggests memorial contributions to Ronald McDonald House, 1144 N. 30th St., Billings, Mont. 59101; Boys and Girls Club, 505 Orchard Lane, Billings, Mont. 59101; or American Legion Baseball Program, P.O. Box 22535, Billings, Mont. 59104.