Mac Scarce

Guerrant McCurdy "Mac" Scarce (born April 8, 1949) is an American former professional baseball relief pitcher, who played in parts of five Major League Baseball (MLB) seasons from 1972–1978. During his short career, the 6 feet 3 inches (1.91 m) left-hander pitched for the Philadelphia Phillies, New York Mets, and Minnesota Twins. He attended John Randolph Tucker High School in Henrico County, Virginia and finished his collegiate career at Florida State University (FSU).

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 elected not to sign. In 1971, Scarce was the Phillies’ eighth round selection (179 overall), subsequently signing on June 11, 1971.

College and minor league career

Scarce first played college baseball for Manatee Junior College, in 1968 and 1969. He then transferred to FSU, pitching for the Seminoles in 1970 and 1971. Scarce was used as a relief pitcher, enjoying considerable success at the collegiate level, while racking up 30 saves (SV) over the two seasons. In 1970, he allowed only 13 hits in 33 innings, a school record. These achievements contributed significantly to the team's being able to advance to the national title game of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) College World Series (CWS), where they were defeated by USC, 2–1. (See 1970 NCAA University Division baseball tournament.) In 1971, the lanky lefty was the squad's co-captain, recording 18 saves — which stood as the NCAA single-season record for some time.^[1][2]

Scarce advanced very rapidly and successfully through

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.^[3]

After a season with a 3–8 record and a 5.01 ERA, Scarce was traded along with Del Unser and John Stearns from the Phillies to the Mets for Tug McGraw, Don Hahn and Dave Schneck at the Winter Meetings on December 3, 1974.^[4]

Overall, Scarce appeared in 159 Major League baseball games and recorded 21 saves (all with the Phillies) and a 6–19 record. Arm problems curtailed his career; they began in 1974 and worsened that fall, when Scarce believes he tore his rotator cuff. Scarce never started a game and in his 17 major league at bats, he never got a hit.^[5]

Scarce played his last game on June 25, 1978.

References

External links

• Career statistics and player information from MLB, or ESPN, or Baseball Reference, or Fangraphs, or Baseball Reference (Minors), or Retrosheet
• Mac Scarce at SABR (Baseball BioProject)
• Mac Scarce at Baseball Almanac
• Mac Scarce FSU Player Bio
• Mac Scarce at Ultimate Mets Database