Joey Jay

Jay in 1962

Pitcher

Born: August 15, 1935 (age 81)
Middletown, Connecticut

Batted: Switch

Threw: Right

MLB debut

July 21, 1953, for the Milwaukee Braves

Last MLB appearance

October 2, 1966, for the Atlanta Braves

MLB statistics

Win–loss record

99–91

Earned run average

3.77

Strikeouts

999

Teams

Career highlights and awards

Joseph Richard (Joey) Jay (born August 15, 1935) is a former starting pitcher in Major League Baseball. From 1953 through 1966, Jay played for the Milwaukee Braves (1953–55, 1957–60), Cincinnati Reds (1961–66) and Atlanta Braves (1966). He was a switch-hitter and threw right-handed.

In a 13-season career, Jay posted a 99–91 record with 999 strikeouts and a 3.77 ERA in 1546.1 innings.

In July 2008 he was inducted into the Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame.

In addition to being the first Little League player to advance to the major leagues, Jay was one of the first "bonus baby" players in the major leagues. This resulted when he signed a significant contract ($20,000) with the Braves, which forced the Braves to keep Jay on their major league roster for two seasons because of the contract's amount. On September 20, 1953, at the age of 17, making his first career start (having pitched only one game in relief previous), he pitched a seven-inning complete game shutout (the game was shortened due to rain), but generally was unremarkable in his two years with the team. Following the end of his two years, he was sent to the minors to gain experience on a staff that already was loaded with Hall of Famer Warren Spahn, Bob Buhl and Lew Burdette. Jay went 7–5 with an ERA of 2.14 in 18 games for the Braves in his best season (1958), becoming the first pitcher (fourth player overall) to win the NL Player of the Month award in July (going 5-2 in 7 starts, posting an ERA of 1.39, and earning 46 SO in 58.1 IP) but a broken finger kept him out of the World Series.

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