Patrick Ivan "Alkie" MacCormack was born on Prince Edward Island in 1921. He quickly gained popularity in his home province when he burst on to the Island baseball scene at age 17. He played his first game on June 13th, 1938 and proved himself a formidable pitcher. During his short baseball career he had a number of legendary duels with fellow pitcher Lefty McAleer and won many fans.
His career was cut short however when he volunteered for active duty in the Canadian Army in 1939. He was quickly shipped overseas and served in the war effort from 1940 to 1945. He survived the war and returned home in 1945. He tried a brief return to baseball but it was short lived. As Fred MacDonald said in the Guardian ""the war had shattered his passion for the game of baseball... for all intents and purposes, his baseball career was finished.""
Patrick MacCormack died at the age of 80 in the Queen Elizabeth Hospital on April 2nd, 2000. He was a member of the Royal Canadian Legion, Branch #1, who held tribute at his funeral. Brian Lewis, who researched Patrick MacCormack claimed that the "name of Ivan "Alkie" MacCormack will be remembered wherever Island baseball fans gather."