Dave McCarty wouldn’t give up on his big league dreams.
David McCarty, who fashioned an 11-year major league career with seven teams, passed away on April 19.
McCarty grew up in Houston and played collegiately at Stanford where he was named Baseball America College Player of the Year in 1991 after hitting .420 with 24 home runs. The Minnesota Twins took him with the third overall pick of the draft that year, and by 1993, he was ranked the #16 prospect in all of baseball. He was a huge first baseman standing 6’5’’, and the rare player that threw left-handed but batted right-handed, even occasionally filling in as a pitcher.
He would make his debut with the Twins that May. He registered his first career home run on June 2, 1993, with a sixth-inning blast off the Rangers Roger Pavlik in a game at the Humphrey Dome. But overall he hit just .214 in 98 games his rookie year as a first baseman and outfielder.
The Twins were hoping he could replace popular veteran Kent Hrbek, but McCarty couldn’t hit in Minnesota, so they traded him and he became a Triple-A journeyman, going from the Reds organization to the Giants, to the Mariners, to the Tigers, to the Athletics. He considered giving up. He was a Stanford grad who had majored in economics. His wife was a successful attorney. He didn’t need to keep playing baseball.
“It wasn’t for the money that I kept battling. It was just I felt I had something to prove. I love the game too much, so I was willing to have those 4:30 wake-up calls, bus rides and all that kind of junk.”
Near the end of spring training in 2000, the Royals purchased him from the A’s to back up young Mike Sweeney, and released veteran first baseman Paul Sorrento. The move enraged veterans on the Royals who felt Sorrento had experience with winning clubs that could help the Royals. Royals GM Herk Robinson preferred McCarty’s glove.
With a new opportunity, McCarty made the most of it. He played solid defense. But he also proved to be a force on offense. He had a four-hit day against the Red Sox on June 1 to push his average to .342, part of a 12-game hitting streak. Manager Tony Muser called him “Super Dave” for his ability to perform situational hitting.
”Before this year, I’d have to say the last time I would play for three or four games in a row was in 1992, or 1994,” McCarty said. “This has just been a matter of getting the right opportunity, but this is great. It’s a great team, and a great bunch of guys. It’s great to come to the park every day.”
A career .242 hitter, he slashed .278/.329/.478 that summer with the Royals with career highs in hits (75), home runs (12) and RBI (53). The Royals signed him to a two-year extension, but his numbers dipped in 2001, and he was released in May of 2002.
McCarty was back on the move, but fate would guide him to the right spot. He landed with the Boston Red Sox in 2004, just as they were overcoming their longtime title drought. He provided key hits down the stretch and was on the post-season roster as they came back against the Yankees in the ALCS and defeated the Cardinals in the World Series.
McCarty would appear in just 13 big league games after that. He recorded his last career hit with a ninth-inning single off Toronto’s Miguel Batista on April 19, 2005, at Fenway. He became an analyst for the Red Sox on NESN for a few years, and he recently attended the Red Sox 20th anniversary celebration.
McCarty passed away on April 19 following a cardiac event at the young age of 54 in Oakland, California. He is survived by his wife Monica and two children. We at Royals Review extend our deepest sympathies to the McCarty family.