Professional Baseball Player. He played in the Major Leagues as a first baseman for 13 seasons with the Cincinnati Reds, the Philadelphia Phillies, and the Boston Braves. After having been turned down by baseball teams on the east coast, he was signed by the Cincinnati Reds at a tryout in West Virginia in 1934. McCormick started off playing with Beckley in the minors and made his Major League debut with the Reds on September 11, 1934. Despite hitting .313, he spent the next three seasons in the minors until he came up to the Reds for good near the end of the season in 1937. McCormick excelled as a player, both offensively and defensively, and quickly became a star in the Reds starting lineup. He chalked up 209 hits in 1938, led the National League in hits and at-bats, and was selected for the All-Star Game, which he would make nine times, twice as a starter. His best season statistically came in 1939. He hit .332, racked up 209 hits, clubbed 18 homeruns, and drove in 128. He led the National League in hits and runs batted in, and placed second among the batting average leaders. The Reds won the pennant that year and went on to face the New York Yankees in the World Series. McCormick played in all four games and hit .400 even though the Reds were swept. In 1940, McCormick was named the National League MVP and earned a World Series championship ring when the Reds took down the Detroit Tigers in seven games. He led the National League in hits for the third consecutive season, one of only three players all time to accomplish the feat. In 1941, he severely injured his back and was deferred from military service during World War II. He bounced back from his injuries well enough to continue as the starting first basemen and played all of 1942 with a back brace. A dedicated first ball hitter, he rarely walked or struck out, and had one of the best strikeout per at bat ratios of all time, striking out only 189 times in over 6,200 plate appearances. He hit over the coveted .300 mark five times as a starter and finished his career with a .299 batting average. Known also as an excellent fielding first baseman, he had a lifetime .995 fielding percentage and ranks among the top ten at his position in the history of the game. He set a Major League record for first basemen with 131 straight errorless games from 1945 to 1946. His contract was purchased by Philadelphia during the off season in 1945 and he played with the Phillies in 1946 and 1947. He signed on to play with the Boston Braves in 1947 and 1948 before retiring from the game as a player. His final appearance came in the 1948 World Series with Boston in a loss to the Cleveland Indians. During his career, he played in 1,534 games with 5,723 at bats, collected 1,711 hits, 128 homeruns, and had 951 runs batted in. In 1949, he managed the Quebec Braves in the minors and won the league championship. He then returned to Cincinnati as a minor league manager, coach, scout, and a broadcaster. He was elected to the Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame in 1958. McCormick continued to live in New York after leaving the game and died at his residence in Manhasset in 1982 when he was 71 years old.