Jerry McNertney

Jerry McNertney was a baseball star at Gilbert (Iowa) High School and went on to play three years for Iowa State. The right-handed batting McNertney was a slick fielding first baseman and was twice named the winner of Iowa State’s ‘Mr. Huckle-de-Buck’ award, given annually to the player that best represented the ‘fire, hustle, enthusiasm, and desire’ of the squad. In June 1958, McNertney was signed by the Chicago White Sox and began his professional career at Class D Holdrege (Nebraska) in the Nebraska State League.

Gerald Edward McNertney was born in 1936 In Boone, Iowa and played basketball in high school. During his first three years in the minor leagues, McNertney played first base, third base, and the outfield. In his third season (1960) at Class C Idaho Falls in the Pioneer League, McNertney had a monster season, batting .341/.408/.517 with 32 doubles, 10 triples, 13 homers, and 125 RBI. The following season, McNertney was converted to catcher and became a solid receiver.

McNertney spent six seasons in the minor leagues and made his major league debut on April 16, 1964. He split time behind the plate with J.C. Martin and Camilo Carreón during the season but still played in 73 games, batting .215/.290/.290 across 186 at-bats. He threw out 36% of runners attempting to steal, which was just below league average.

After the White Sox received two-time All-Star catcher John Romano in a three-way trade that also included Tommie Agee, Tommy John, and Rocky Colavito in early 1965, McNertney started the season at Triple-A Indianapolis. McNertney was off to a good start, batting .292/.286/.500 in 15 games when he suffered a right-hand injury caused by a foul ball. Two weeks later, he was run over in a play at the plate and suffered a double fracture in his right shinbone. He came back in the winter to play in the Florida Instructional League.

McNertney played a reserve role at catcher for the ChiSox the next three years before he was drafted by the Seattle Pilots in the 1968 expansion draft. McNertney set career highs in 1969—the only Seattle Pilots season—in almost every major offensive category. The following season the Pilots became the Milwaukee Brewers and McNertney saw his playing time dwindle as Phil Roof took most of the starts in 1970. McNertney batted .243/.302/.348 across 296 at-bats. After the season he was traded to the St. Louis Cardinals. McNertney played two seasons with the Cardinals and finished his career in 1973 with Pittsburgh.

After retiring as a player, McNertney spent three seasons as an assistant baseball coach at Iowa State. From 1977-1983, McNertney served as a coach in the New York Yankees minor league system. In 1984, he spent three months as the Yankees bullpen coach but was demoted to Triple-A Columbus, purportedly in response to a bullpen incident in which pitcher Dave Righetti suffered a cut finger, putting him on the disabled list. After working for a couple seasons in the minors for New York, McNertney became the Boston Red Sox bullpen coach in July 1988 and finished the season before resigning from the post.

McNertney spent a couple years in the early 1990s as a coach at Iowa State.