John McGraw

1 6.3

An American baseball player and manager who led the New York Giants

proper noun
/dʒɒn məkˈɡrɔː/

: John McGraw

John McGraw led the New York Giants to ten National League pennants during his managerial career.

Examples

Baseball historians often credit John McGraw with revolutionizing the game's tactics in the early 20th century.
The legendary baseball player John McGraw led the Giants to three World Series titles.
As a player and manager, John McGraw became one of the most respected figures in baseball history.
Did John McGraw really change the way baseball is played?
John McGraw led the New York Giants to ten National League pennants during his managerial career.
As a player and manager, John McGraw became one of the most respected figures in baseball history.
Baseball historians often credit John McGraw with revolutionizing the game's tactics in the early 20th century.

Surface Forms

John McGraw main

Morphology

John + McGraw

This is a proper name referring to a specific historical baseball figure; the literal constituents 'John' and 'McGraw' give no information about his identity, role, or fame. Proper nouns require encyclopedic/world knowledge rather than compositional inference, so a B1 learner who only knows the constituent words would not be able to derive the MWE's meaning.

Etymology

John McGraw was a famous American baseball player and 'manager' in the early 1900s who led the New York Giants for many years and helped change how the game was played. Picture him on the field, directing players and building a tough team, and that's why the name refers to that important baseball leader.