Bill MacCoy
| Date and Place of Birth: | April 17, 1920 Overbrook, PA |
| Date and Place of Death: | June 19, 1943 Pampa, TX |
| Baseball Experience: | College |
| Position: | Catcher |
| Rank: | Second Lieutenant |
| Military Unit: | 73rd TEFTG USAAF |
| Area Served: | United States |
Bill MacCoy was the record-setting captain of the Princeton baseball team with everything to live for. Then, one week before he was due to receive his wings in the Army Air Force, disaster struck.
William Logan MacCoy, Jr., was born in Overbrook, Pennsylvania on
April 17, 1920. He was the only son of Mr. and Mrs. W. Logan MacCoy. His
father was an affluent lawyer and president of the Provident Trust
Company.
MacCoy attended Haverford School where he first began to excel as an
athlete. He was the captain of the squash and tennis teams while playing
varsity baseball and football.
MacCoy went to Princeton in 1939 to study politics as a preliminary to
his planned career as a lawyer. It was in his freshman year that he
began his illustrious baseball career. The young outfielder captained
the team and won the Leroy Kellog Cup. Interestingly, MacCoy was part of
television history that year. On May 17, W2XBS televised the first ever
baseball game - a 2-1, 10th winning win for Princeton at Columbia.
But MacCoy did not limit himself to baseball. He also took up hockey - a
sport which was entirely new to him - because "it was a challenge to
him, and offered the closest of competition and teamwork."
MacCoy became an outstanding hockey player and a member of the varsity
team for three years.
In 1940, MacCoy switched from the outfield to catcher. He won the
Sophomore Cup as the most improved ball player at Princeton and was
selected for the Eastern Inter-Collegiate (EIL) All-League team. He also
had a 16-game hitting streak - an EIL record that stood for 40 years.
The 20 year-old spent the summer as warm-up catcher for the Philadelphia
Athletics under the watchful eye of the venerable Connie Mack.
In December 1941, MacCoy married Adele Goodwyn Griffin - a descendant of
John Tyler, tenth President of the United States - at Christ Church in
Media, Pennsylvania.
MacCoy's senior year was little short of outstanding. The newlywed
captained Princeton to an EIL championship with a .452 batting average,
scoring winning runs in two decisive extra-inning games against Yale and
Harvard. Furthermore, MacCoy was selected for the EIL All-League team
and won the Frederick W. Kafer Memorial Cup for "sportsmanship, play and
influence in baseball."
During his time at Princeton, MacCoy attended ROTC for four years,
displaying the same natural ability and those qualities of leadership
which made him a standout in athletics. He received his second
lieutenant's commission in the Army on June 11, 1942 but transferred to
the Army Air Force in August - challenged by the "self-reliance and
skills needed to become a successful pilot."
MacCoy received his primary flight training at Tulsa, Oklahoma and his
basic flight training at Enid Army Air Filed, Oklahoma. He then headed
to the twin-engine advance flying school at Pampa Army Air Field in
Texas.
Serving as a student officer at Pampa AAF, MacCoy's life came to an
abrupt end on June 19, 1943, when the Cessna UC-78C Bobcat he was
flying collided in mid-air with another airplane, six miles northeast of
Pampa. Bill MacCoy was just a week away from receiving his pilot's
wings.
"Those of us who knew Bill well have lost a true friend," wrote
classmate Joseph O. Rutter. "One could not help being completely
dominated by him because of his forceful personality. And at the same
time one could not help becoming devoted to him because of his
affability, quiet humor, kindliness and loyalty.
MacCoy's loss devastated his family - not least his wife, Adele, who was
five months pregnant at the time. Their daughter, Marguerite, was born
October 5, 1943, taking her father's middle name - Logan - as her own.
In 1946, MacCoy's father arranged for a memorial to be built at
University Field (now Clarke Field) home of the Princeton baseball team.
The MacCoy memorial included a bronze likeness of the young ball player
built into a brick wall directly behind homeplate. MacCoy's father also
presented new dugouts to the team. The MacCoy Memorial still oversees
Princeton baseball.
In June 1987, there was a rededication of the MacCoy memorial at Clarke
Field. Among the dignitaries in attendance was a Princeton graduate and
former commissioner of Major League Baseball, Bowie Kuhn.
Bill MacCoy is buried at West Laurel Hill Cemetery in Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania.
Sources
New York Times, June 21, 1943
Pampa News June 20, 1943
Princeton Yearbook 1942
Princeton Alumni, Weekly March 24, 1944
The Golden Years of Broadcasting, Robert Campbell
Princeton Alumni, Weekly March 24, 1944
Rededication of The MacCoy Memorial at Clarke Field program, June 7,
1987
Princeton Athletics website
Princetonian, June 7, 1940
New York Times, September 14, 1941
Princeton Yearbook 1942
unidentified press clipping
Princetonian Alumni Weekly, September 10, 1943
Princetonian Alumni Weekly, March 24, 1944
Princetonian, May 10, 1946
Rededication of The MacCoy Memorial at Clarke Field program, June 7,
1987
Date Added July 28, 2012
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