Jim McAndrew, who pitched for the 1969 and 1973 New York Mets, dies at 80

Associated Press

Updated March 16, 2024

4 min read

FILE – Jim McAndrew poses in New York Saturday, June 29, 2019. McAndrew died Thursday, March 14, 2024, at HonorHealth Scottsdale Shea Medical Center in Arizona after a brief illness, Mets spokesman Jay Horwitz said Friday. He was 80. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II, File)

FILE – New York Mets pitcher Jim McAndrew is shown in St. Petersburg, Fla., March 1970. McAndrew died Thursday, March 14, 2024, at HonorHealth Scottsdale Shea Medical Center in Arizona after a brief illness, Mets spokesman Jay Horwitz said Friday. He was 80. (AP Photo/Harry Harris, File)

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Obit McAndrew Baseball

NEW YORK (AP) — Jim McAndrew, who lost his major league debut to Bob Gibson in a 1968 spot start for the New York Mets when Nolan Ryan was called away to military duty, then beat Steve Carlton a month later for his first win, has died. He was 80.

McAndrew died Thursday at HonorHealth Scottsdale Shea Medical Center in Arizona after a brief illness, Mets spokesman Jay Horwitz said Friday.

A right-hander at the back end of the Mets rotation from 1968-73, McAndrew started one of the most significant games in franchise history: a win over Montreal in September 1969 that put the long downtrodden team into first place for the first time in New York’s eight seasons.

Pitching for the Mets during a seven-year major league career, McAndrew didn’t appear in the postseason for the 1969 World Series champions or 1973 NL pennant winners.

He was 36-49 with four saves and a 3.65 ERA for the Mets in 105 starts and 41 relief appearances, then was traded to San Diego and went 1-4 with a 5.62 ERA in two starts and 13 relief appearances. That left his final big league record 37-53 with a 3.65 ERA.

McAndrew made his major league debut in a doubleheader opener at Busch Stadium in St. Louis on July 21, 1968, when Ryan — a future Hall of Famer — was fulfilling his duty as a member of the Army reserve. McAndrew’s first batter was future Hall of Famer Lou Brock, who singled, and McAndrew pitched around Roger Maris’ leadoff double in the fourth.