367:. "I personally would have let him (Kirby) 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 and 231 strikeouts) in 1971, and 12–14, 3.13 in 1972. In 1973 his record fell to 8-18 with a 4.79 ERA.
406:
on
December 12, 1975. In January 1976 Kirby was stricken with a long bout of pneumonia before he joined the Expos in Florida for spring training. He was still weak and had a sore shoulder when the season opened. He got off to a miserable start and never recovered and in the 1976 season he fell to 1–8
446:
Following his baseball career, Kirby was acting tournament chairman for the annual Major League
Baseball Players Alumni (MLBPA) Washington Metropolitan Area Charity Golf Tournament. The event, which benefited the American Lung Association, was part of the "Swing With the Legends Golf Series." His
468:
on
October 11, 1991, at the age of 43. His wife found him about 11 o'clock in the morning in his chair. It appeared that he had fallen asleep while reading and suffered the fatal attack. He was survived by his wife, Susan, his mother, Gloria, his sister, Carolyn, his son, Clayton, his daughter,
431:, "Game after game, I would see him step off the mound in despair, unable to do what he had done all through high school and through much of his time at the major league level: pitch competitive baseball." His record for the season was one win, seven losses, and an earned-run average of 7.95.
374:
threw the franchise's first on April 9, 2021 against the Texas
Rangers. Fans and writers occasionally attribute this unlikely failure to the "Curse of Clay Kirby," in recognition of the controversial decision by Preston GĂłmez to remove Kirby from the game.
36:
664:
407:
with an ERA of 5.72, and it was his final major league season. Montreal released him on
December 2, 1976. In January 1977 the Padres picked up their former pitcher to give him another chance. They invited him to their
434:
After San Diego gave up on Kirby, he tried out with the
Minnesota Twins during spring training in 1978. He lasted only two weeks before he was released. Kirby was out of organized baseball before his 30th birthday.
463:
to open a blockage in an artery just above his heart. After the procedure he was told he had suffered a silent heart attack. Kirby had been complaining about chest discomfort and numbness in his arm. He died of a
438:
In his eight seasons in the Major
Leagues, Kirby played 261 games (239 started) and had a 75–104 record with a 3.84 ERA, 42 complete games, eight shutouts, 1,548 innings pitched and 1,061 strikeouts.
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1239:
650:
673:
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304:, who walked, as Kirby gave up three earned runs in four innings. Although he led the National League in losses that year with 20 (against seven wins), he had a 3.80
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and the move paid off as Kirby went 12–9 with an ERA of 3.28 as the Reds won 98 games. In 1975, Kirby was one of six starters to win 10 or more games for the
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pinch-hit for Kirby, denying him a chance to complete the no-hitter. The 10,373 fans in attendance booed long and loud. Padres reliever
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415:. A knee injury in the final week of spring training delayed his comeback try for almost two months. The Padres placed him in their
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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
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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
1274:
875:
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1196:
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The Padres, who began play in 1969, were the last Major League
Baseball team never to have thrown a no-hitter until
540:
PADRES: Forty years after the infamous Clay Kirby game, the no-hitter drought lives on Page 1 of 4 | UTSanDiego.com
269:
565:
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391:, who won the National League title as he went 10–6 with an ERA of 4.72 in 19 starts. The Reds later won the
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April 11, 1969 San
Francisco Giants at San Diego Padres Box Score and Play by Play - Baseball-Reference.com
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Theresa, and two grandchildren. He was buried in the
National Memorial Park in Falls Church, Virginia.
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until 1983, when they returned to Virginia. Kirby became a self-employed financial securities broker.
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July 21, 1970 New York Mets at San Diego Padres Play by Play and Box Score - Baseball-Reference.com
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and the Mets pulled off a double steal, placing Agee on third. Agee subsequently scored on an
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through eight innings, but was trailing 1-0. In the first inning Kirby had walked
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Top 100: Clay Kirby, Washington-Lee Baseball, 1966 | The Connection Newspapers
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Baseball's One-Hit Wonders: More Than a Century of Pitching's Greatest Feats
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340:. Now with two outs in the bottom of the eighth inning, Padres Manager
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625:
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by the Padres, who would begin play in 1969 along with the Expos.
871:
646:
383:
In November 1973 Kirby was traded to the Reds for outfielder
352:
then gave up two runs and three hits in the ninth. The Mets'
507:
Clay Kirby Statistics and History - Baseball-Reference.com
423:
on June 18, but never won another. According to teammate
360:. "The Mets bench just gasped in disbelief," Seaver told
122:
September 28, 1976, for the Montreal Expos
605:
Durso Joseph. "Mets Trade Staub to Tigers for Lolich,"
112:
April 11, 1969, for the San Diego Padres
579:"Padres streak approaches 7,500 games with no no-no."
552:"Clay Kirby – Society for American Baseball Research"
419:farm club in Hawaii. He won his first game for the
328:, who stole second base. With one out Kirby walked
240:(June 25, 1948 – October 11, 1991) was an American
214:
165:
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131:
126:
116:
106:
26:
300:. The first major league hitter he ever faced was
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484:
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284:, however, in October 1968 he was chosen in the
1240:American expatriate baseball players in Canada
675:San Diego Padres Opening Day starting pitchers
624:Career statistics and player information from
883:
658:
459:On July 19, 1991, Kirby underwent a coronary
8:
264:Clayton Laws "Clay" Kirby, Jr, was born in
890:
876:
868:
665:
651:
643:
34:
23:
308:in 35 starts with 215.1 innings pitched.
581:San Diego Union-Tribune. April 14, 2016.
395:, but Kirby did not play in the series.
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218:
169:
1250:Baseball players from Washington, D.C.
1300:Washington-Liberty High School alumni
7:
16:American baseball player (1948–1991)
1207:National League Championship Series
14:
592:"1975 Cincinnati Reds Statistics"
1290:St. Petersburg Cardinals players
1295:Tulsa Oilers (baseball) players
1270:Major League Baseball pitchers
609:, Saturday, December 13, 1975.
1:
336:ground out to second baseman
1260:Gulf Coast Cardinals players
447:family continued to live in
316:On July 21, 1970, Kirby had
215:Career highlights and awards
638:Baseball Reference (Minors)
1316:
1245:Arkansas Travelers players
280:in the third round of the
270:Washington-Lee High School
1191:
1131:
913:
682:
219:
170:
161:
121:
111:
88:
71:
51:
42:
33:
1285:San Diego Padres players
1265:Hawaii Islanders players
568:. Unbridled Books. 2016.
276:. He was drafted by the
1255:Cincinnati Reds players
238:Clayton Laws Kirby, Jr.
1280:Montreal Expos players
244:(MLB) pitcher for the
611:Retrieved May 1, 2020
242:Major League Baseball
1275:Modesto Reds players
417:Pacific Coast League
298:San Francisco Giants
398:He was sent to the
278:St. Louis Cardinals
274:Arlington, Virginia
117:Last MLB appearance
82:Arlington, Virginia
747:Sterling Hitchcock
630:Baseball Reference
607:The New York Times
306:earned run average
143:Earned run average
1217:
1216:
905:1975 World Series
865:
864:
727:Juan Eichelberger
393:1975 World Series
235:
234:
1307:
1210:
1208:
1201:
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1184:
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1168:
1160:
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1044:
1036:
1028:
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969:World Series MVP
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951:
943:
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449:San Diego County
266:Washington, D.C.
246:San Diego Padres
174:San Diego Padres
78:
75:October 11, 1991
65:Washington, D.C.
61:
59:
38:
29:
24:
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1197:
1195:
1187:
1179:
1171:
1166:George Scherger
1163:
1155:
1150:
1143:Sparky Anderson
1140:
1135:
1127:
1119:
1111:
1106:Jack Billingham
1103:
1095:
1087:
1079:
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1063:
1055:
1047:
1039:
1031:
1026:Merv Rettenmund
1023:
1015:
1007:
999:
991:
983:
975:
962:
957:Dave ConcepciĂłn
954:
946:
938:
925:
917:
909:
904:
900:Cincinnati Reds
899:
896:
866:
861:
847:Edinson VĂłlquez
812:Clayton Richard
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564:Lammers, Dirk.
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425:John D'Acquisto
409:spring training
389:Big Red Machine
381:
379:Big Red Machine
314:
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286:expansion draft
268:, and attended
262:
250:Cincinnati Reds
188:Cincinnati Reds
133:Win–loss record
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76:
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21:Baseball player
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1198:Regular season
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1182:Ted Kluszewski
1177:
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1122:Rawly Eastwick
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994:CĂ©sar GerĂłnimo
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857:Woody Williams
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782:Brian Lawrence
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707:Jhoulys ChacĂn
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619:External links
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577:Kenney, Kirk.
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442:After baseball
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400:Montreal Expos
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350:Jack Baldschun
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312:Near no-hitter
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254:Montreal Expos
252:(1974–75) and
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79:(aged 43)
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949:Darrel Chaney
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827:James Shields
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802:Gaylord Perry
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742:Joey Hamilton
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429:Fastball John
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413:Yuma, Arizona
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351:
347:
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342:Preston GĂłmez
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330:Ken Singleton
327:
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322:New York Mets
320:the visiting
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248:(1969–1973),
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62:June 25, 1948
54:
50:
47:
46:
41:
37:
32:
25:
19:
1158:Alex Grammas
1082:Clay Carroll
1066:Pedro BorbĂłn
1041:
1002:Dan Driessen
941:Bill Plummer
920:Johnny Bench
842:Tim Stauffer
771:
762:Kevin Jarvis
606:
600:
586:
573:
560:
546:
535:
524:
513:
466:heart attack
458:
445:
437:
433:
428:
427:in his book
397:
382:
372:Joe Musgrove
369:
362:sportswriter
354:Jim McAndrew
315:
295:
263:
237:
236:
223:World Series
97:
91:
77:(1991-10-11)
72:
52:
43:
18:
1235:1991 deaths
1230:1948 births
1074:Don Gullett
1050:Fred Norman
1034:Ken Griffey
837:Blake Snell
807:Tom Phoebus
767:Randy Jones
757:Bruce Hurst
752:LaMarr Hoyt
732:Jon Garland
712:John Curtis
697:Kevin Brown
461:atherectomy
385:Bobby Tolan
346:Cito Gaston
334:Art Shamsky
326:Tommie Agee
302:Willie Mays
1224:Categories
1098:Gary Nolan
1042:Clay Kirby
1018:Tony PĂ©rez
1010:Doug Flynn
928:Joe Morgan
852:Ed Whitson
822:Dick Selma
817:Tyson Ross
797:Jake Peavy
787:Tim Lollar
777:Eric Lauer
772:Clay Kirby
737:Bill Greif
722:Pat Dobson
717:Yu Darvish
692:Andy Benes
687:Andy Ashby
636:, or
632:, or
628:, or
473:References
404:Bob Bailey
358:Tom Seaver
338:Ron Slocum
292:MLB career
282:1966 draft
260:Early life
225:champion (
153:Strikeouts
58:1948-06-25
28:Clay Kirby
1114:Pat Darcy
965:Pete Rose
908:champions
832:Eric Show
634:Fangraphs
421:Islanders
365:Joe Durso
107:MLB debut
411:camp in
256:(1976).
1151:Coaches
1136:Manager
92:Batted:
45:Pitcher
932:NL MVP
318:no-hit
137:75–104
98:Threw:
84:, U.S.
67:, U.S.
455:Death
166:Teams
157:1,061
100:Right
94:Right
73:Died:
53:Born:
402:for
344:had
227:1975
206:1976
196:1975
192:1974
182:1973
178:1969
147:3.84
1180:18
1141:10
1120:49
1112:44
1104:43
1096:38
1088:37
1080:36
1072:35
1064:34
1056:33
1048:32
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1032:30
1024:26
1016:24
1008:23
1000:22
992:20
984:17
976:15
963:14
955:13
947:12
626:MLB
272:in
1226::
1172:4
1164:3
1156:2
939:9
926:8
918:5
495:^
481:^
971:)
967:(
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930:(
891:e
884:t
877:v
666:e
659:t
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554:.
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190:(
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176:(
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56:(
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