Seamus Deaghlan Corcoran

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Seamus Deaghlan Corcoran
Democratic Party
Congressman
Began Present Office: 2012
Electoral District	8th Congressional district
State	Massachusetts
Region and Superregion	New England, Northeast
Previous Offices	Massachusetts State House
Born	October 17, 1968 Boston, Massachusetts
Spouse	Angela O'Shea Corcoran
Religion	Roman Catholic
Residence	Boston, Massachusetts
Occupation	Athlete / Politician
Education	Boston University, BA in Latin

Seamus 'Jimmy' Deaghlan Corcoran (born October 17, 1968) is currently a United States Representative for the U.S. state of Massachusetts 8th District congressional seat. He previously served in the Massachusetts State House of Representatives, but he is most famous for his highly-celebrated professional baseball career with the Boston Red Sox.

Background

Jimmy Corcoran with the Red Sox, 1999

Corcoran was born in Boston in 1968, the youngest of Michael and Eileen Corcoran's five children. His parents owned their own bakery ("Corcoran's Bakery" in South Boston), and enjoyed modest success over the years. The Corcoran family was and is devoutly Catholic and all five children attended the local Catholic elementary and high schools. One sister, Mary, became a religious sister while his brother Patrick became a priest. Patrick was named Bishop of Burlington in 2012. His brother Thomas became a lawyer, got married, and had a daughter. His sister Catherine followed her parents into the bakery business and had three children with John Young, an Oklahoma-native who became a professor at Boston College.

During his early childhood, Corcoran missed his entire second grade year due to a strange stomach-related infection that baffled doctors for months. Although the lost year made him the oldest child in his grade for the remainder of his academic career, it did not cause any long-term health problems.

Career in Baseball

Jimmy Corcoran with the Red Sox, 2004

Corcoran was very successful academically during high school, finishing among the top five percent in his class, but he attracted far more attention for his athletic exploits. An ace pitcher for his high school team, he boasted a hopping 90 mile-an-hour fastball, a nasty, late-breaking slider, and a devastating palmball, and caused a tremendous stir in the baseball community. The Red Sox would select him in the 1988 Amateur Draft with the second overall selection.

Corcoran spent several years in the minor leagues before making his Major League debut with the Red Sox during 1991. He and fellow pitcher Roger Clemens combined for 33 wins and more than 500 strikeouts as Clemens claimed the American League Cy Young Award as the year's best pitcher and Corcoran snagged Rookie of the Year honors. Unfortunately for Red Sox fans, Clemens soon experienced a significant decline in performance and Corcoran was forced to take up the role of staff ace immediately. Although the Red Sox organization downplayed it during his career, Corcoran has in recent years indicated that the two pitchers were unfriendly rivals. Over the next five years, Corcoran won an impressive 92 games to Clemens' 58, which prompted the organization to allow the aging Texan to leave Boston for the Toronto Blue Jays following the 1996 season.

Although Clemens experienced a career renaissance in Canada and turned in two consecutive high-quality seasons, Corcoran out-shone him and established himself as the best pitcher in the Major Leagues during the 1997 and 1998 seasons. He won the American League Cy Young Award in both 1997 and 1998, winning the pitching triple-crown (most wins, most strikeouts, and lowest earned run average) each year. Another Red Sox pitcher, Pedro Martinez, took center stage shortly thereafter - without any notable conflicts arising between the two players - but Corcoran continued to pitch well for the next several years. He threw a no-hitter against the Baltimore Orioles on April 4th, 2001.

Citing simple fatigue and a desire to take advantage of the opportunities life still afforded him, Corcoran retired after helping the Red Sox win the World Series in 2004. He finished with a record of 251-119, an ERA of 3.05, and 3,108 strikeouts. He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2010, his first year on the voting ballot.

Political Career

Corcoran resumed the education he had been forced to set aside and enrolled at Boston University. He graduated in 2009 with a Bachelor's Degree in Latin. During that time, he occasionally provided baseball analysis for Red Sox television broadcaster NESN and would sometimes assist Red Sox pitching coach Mickey O'Shea with the staff.

When a baseball radio announcer told Corcoran that he had such a fine voice that he should either become an announcer or a politician, the former Red Sox star decided to actually give the idea a chance. He won a seat in the Massachusetts state legislature in 2010, and served with distinction on a variety of committees. He was quickly tapped for federal office, and won a place in the United States House of Representatives in 2012. He considers himself a conservative Democrat, as he places the Catholic Church's teachings on social justice and personal ethics before the Party.

Personal Life

Corcoran's wife, Angela O'Shea

Corcoran married Mickey O'Shea's daughter Angela, a New England gardening giant, in 1993. By the end of the decade they had four children: Thomas (b. 1994), Brian (b. 1995), Mary (b. 1997), and Steven (b. 1999). All four children are extremely successful athletes. Thomas attends the University of Virginia and he earned First Team All-Conference Honors as a freshman pitcher. Brian attends Stanford University and starts at third base for the highly-ranked Cardinals. The other two play different sports: Mary is an exceptionally talented golfer expected to debut on the LPGA Tour before the end of the decade and Steven, a hockey defenseman with a surprising nose for the goal, is already attracting the notice of National Hockey League scouts.