MLB History 7. Mickey Cochrane
There are players in every sport throughout history where their careers were cut short, and you wonder what kind of numbers they would have put up had it not been for injury or something like that. Although he played 13 years, Mickey Cochrane was one of those players.
In 1937, Cochrane was beaned and spent a week in the hospital. Doctors forced him to retire after the incident. He was just 34 years old and may have had a few more seasons where he could add to his already impressive totals.
Cochrane won two MVP’s and finished in the top 10 of MVP voting five times. His .320 career batting average is the highest ever for a catcher. His .419 OBP is also the best for a catcher ever.
He began his career in Philadelphia with the A’s and was traded to the Detroit Tigers in 1934, where he would take over as player-manager. He would lead the Tigers to back to back pennants and the 1935 World Championship as manager while making the All-Star team in both seasons. In that 1935 season, he would hit .319 with a .902 OPS.
Cochrane would be elected into the Hall of Fame in 1947.