In 1904, McCarthy suffered an unusual injury when he tripped over the broom used by the umpire to clean home plate, and injured his ankle.

Soon afterwards, a rule specified that umpires would clean home plate with a whisk broom and store it in their pocket when not in use.

[1] On April 26, 1905, McCarthy is the first fielder to throw out three base runners at home plate, achieving the feat against the Pittsburgh Pirates.

After his playing days, he remained in baseball for a time as a minor league manager, then took other jobs, being listed in 1930 as a clerk in a Chicago probate court.

This biographical article relating to an American baseball outfielder born in the 1860s is a stub.