Mac Scarce

Guerrand McCurdy "Mac" Scarce (born April 8, 1949 in Danville, Virginia) is a former baseball player who played in parts of 5 seasons from 1972–1978. During his short career, the 6 feet 3 inches (1.91 m) lefty pitched primarily for the Philadelphia Phillies, as well as appearing briefly with the New York Mets and the Minnesota Twins. He attended Florida State University before being drafted.

Draft

Scarce, who batted and threw left-handed, was initially drafted by the Cincinnati Reds in the twenty-sixth round of the 1969 amateur draft, but he did not sign. In 1971 he was drafted in the eighth round the Philadelphia Phillies (179 overall) and subsequently signed with the Phillies on June 11, 1971.

College and Minor Leagues

Scarce played baseball in 1970 and 1971 for the Florida State University Seminoles. He was used as a relief pitcher and had considerable success at the collegiate level, racking up 30 saves over the two seasons. In 1970 he allowed only 13 hits in 33 innings, a school record, and contributed significantly to the FSU team that advanced to the national title game of the College World Series. In 1971 he was co-captain of the Seminoles and recorded 18 saves, which was a NCAA record at the time.^[1]

Scarce advanced very rapidly and successfully through the minor leagues. He spent part of the 1971 season with the Peninsula team in the A+ Carolina league, where he appeared in 20 games and compiled a 3–0 record with a 1.29 ERA. In 1972 he pitched for the Reading team in the AA Eastern League, going 4–0 with a 0.46 ERA in 23 games. That same year, after a brief stint on the AAA Eugene team, he was called up to the Philadelphia Phillies.

Major Leagues

On July 10, 1972, at the age of 23, Scarce made his major league debut. He entered the game in Philadelphia in the eighth inning against the Los Angeles Dodgers and pitched 3-plus innings. He gave up a run in the ninth inning, allowing the Dodgers to tie the score 3–3. Then in the eleventh inning, he allowed hits to the first two batters (Tommy Davis and Manny Mota) and was lifted. Both Davis and Mota went on to score leading to the Dodgers 5–3 win. Scarce was given the loss.^[2]

Overall, Scarce appeared in 159 Major League baseball games and recorded 21 saves (all with the Phillies) and a 6–19 record. Scarce never started a game and in his 17 major league at bats, he never got a hit.^[3]

He played his last game on June 25, 1978.

Career highlights

Scarce had a 2.42 ERA and appeared in 52 games in 1973.

Scarce was the Phillies save leader in 1972 and 1973. His total number of saves in 1972 was 4. This remarkably low number for a team leader in saves says considerably more about the 1972 Phillies than it does about Mac Scarce. That year the Phillies won only 59 games, 27 of which were won by Hall of Famer Steve Carlton. Carlton's ratio of recording 46% of the teams wins is one of the highest in league history. Additionally, Carlton invariably finished the games he started. Thus save opportunities for the Philadelphia club were very scarce for Scarce in 1972.

Although more of an anomaly than a highlight, Scarce's entire stint with the New York Mets consisted of pitching to one batter in a game against the Pittsburgh Pirates on April 11, 1975. The Mets were up 3–0 going into the bottom of the 9th inning. The Pirates rallied, putting 5 of their first 6 batters on base and tying the game. The Mets then put Scarce in the game with runners on first and second and Richie Hebner at the plate. Scare promptly gave up a single to Hebner that scored the winning run and ended the game. Four days later, Scarce was traded to the Cincinnati Reds.

References

External links

• Career statistics and player information from MLB, or Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube, or Baseball-Reference (Minors)
• http://web.archive.org/web/20041103091744/http://www.geocities.com/nolefan_fsu/baseball/scarce_mac.html