August 31, 1903

Joe “Iron Man” McGinnity didn’t need no stinkin’ pitch counts. On this date, for the third time in a month, he started and won both ends of a doubleheader for the New York Giants. (Kids, a “doubleheader” consists of two games played back-to-back in one day, with only one admission charged for the two games. Ask your grandparents.) First, he beat Boston twice on August 1; six days later he did the same to Brooklyn. On the 31st, he turned the trick against Philadelphia, the two games combined lasting a mere three hours and three minutes. McGinnity went 31-20 on the season, throwing 434 innings and 44 complete games. Nonetheless, his nickname came not from his pitching endurance, but because he worked in a foundry during the offseason.