Clay Kirby
| Clay Kirby | |||
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| Pitcher | |||
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Born: June 25, 1948 Washington, D.C. |
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Died: October 11, 1991 (aged 43) Arlington, Virginia |
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| MLB debut | |||
| April 11, 1969, for the San Diego Padres | |||
| Last MLB appearance | |||
| September 28, 1976, for the Montreal Expos | |||
| MLB statistics | |||
| Win–loss record | 75–104 | ||
| Earned run average | 3.84 | ||
| Strikeouts | 1,061 | ||
| Teams | |||
| Career highlights and awards | |||
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Clayton Laws Kirby, Jr. (June 25, 1948 – October 11, 1991) was a Major League Baseball (MLB) pitcher for the San Diego Padres (1969–73), Cincinnati Reds (1974–75) and Montreal Expos (1976).
Clayton Laws "Clay" Kirby, Jr, was born in Washington, D.C. and attended Washington-Lee High School in Arlington, Virginia. He was drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals in the third round of the 1966 draft, however, in October 1968 he was chosen in the expansion draft by the Padres, who would begin play in 1969 along with the Expos.
He made his Major League debut at age 20 with the first-year Padres on April 11, 1969 as the Padres fell at home 8-0 to the San Francisco Giants. The first major league hitter he ever faced was Willie Mays, who walked, as Kirby gave up three earned runs in four innings. Although he led the National League in losses that year with 20 (and seven wins), he had a 3.80 earned run average in 35 starts with 215.1 innings pitched.
On July 21, 1970, Kirby was working on a no-hitter against the New York Mets after eight innings, but trailed 1-0 as the Mets scored in the first inning after a walk to Tommie Agee. Agee stole second base. Bud Harrelson popped up to the shortstop Kirby walked Ken Singleton, and the Mets did a double steal. Agee was now on third, Singleton was on second and Art Shamsky was the batter. He hit a ground ball to second baseman Ron Slocum, who threw him out as Agee scored. With two outs, Manager Preston Gómez had Cito Gaston pinch-hit for him in the bottom of the eighth, denying him a chance to complete the no-hitter. The 10,373 fans in attendance booed long and loud. Relief pitcher Jack Baldschun then gave up two runs and three hits in the ninth. Mets Jim McAndrew had retired 15 batters in a row en route to what would be a three-hit, 3-0 victory for the Mets. According to Mets pitcher Tom Seaver. “The Mets bench just gasped in disbelief,” Seaver told sportswriter Joe Durso. "I personally would have let him hit. If the pennant race were involved, no. But in this situation, yes.” That season, Kirby posted a 10-16 record with a 4.53 ERA. The next two years Kirby had numbers of 15-13, 2.83 (with 13 complete games) in 1971 and 12-14, 3.13 in 1972. In 1973 his record fell to 8-18 with a 4.79 ERA.
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