Hall of Fame
David G. McKie ’80 – Class of 2004
“The kind of fellow you can’t win without”
A rare combination of chutzpah and cunning is required to excel as catcher. The tools of ignorance are not donned by the faint-hearted. And the fingers that sling a ball to second base are the same appendages that signal fastball and curve, requiring a savvy sense of the game.
Le Moyne earned a reputation as a pitcher’s school in the late 1970s; names such as Deshaies, Abone, Hundley, Browning and Fletcher dominate the college’s record book. They threw to a catcher who came out of Liverpool High in 1976 as an honor student and the Captain and Most Valuable Player on the school’s football, hockey and baseball teams. With such credentials David McKie was not shy in calling a game or demanding that teammates deliver their best.
“Thurm” was his nickname, after the great Yankee catcher, and he played with a competitive, hard-nosed flair reminiscent of his namesake.
Starting behind the plate or as designated hitter from his sophomore year on, he was on Dolphin teams that recorded four straight post-season appearances and complied an overall record of 182 wins against only 49 losses, including a 51-8 mark and third place in the College World Series of 1979.
If Le Moyne’s pitchers were glad to have him behind the plate, they were thrilled to have him in the batter’s box in clutch situations. As a freshman pinch-hitter, his bases-clearing triple kept the Dolphins alive in the NCAA tournament and set the tone for a career of key hits. A fixture in the middle of the batting order, he could hit with power; teammates recall that he took the future Cy Young Award Winner Steve Bedrosian deep in the 1978 College World Series.
His most distinguishing characteristic, however, was not manifest behind or at the plate. Rather, he was the sort of fellow whose antics come to define a team’s sense of comradeship. Whether delivering a tongue-lashing to a star pitcher or clowning on the team bus, he created moments that defined the personality of very special Le Moyne teams: they worked hard and they had fun.
After stints in professional ball and accounting, he returned to the family business and has grown McKie Sports a major regional hockey shop. He’s built a family with his wife Cathy, along with a reputation as an outstanding golfer and an avid supporter of youth sports, community causes and his alma mater.
He is the kind of fellow you can’t win without, and the great Dolphin baseball teams of the late 1970s bore his distinct mark. It is clear that
David G. McKie ’80, belongs in the Le Moyne College Athletic Hall of Fame.
February 7, 2004.
