Ken Clay Had His Moment in the Sun in Game 1 of the 1978 ALCS

 

Former MLB pitcher Ken Clay passed away on March 26th due to heart and kidney failure. He was 71.

Born and raised in Lynchburg, Virginia, Clay was a second-round draft pick of the New York Yankees in 1972 straight out of high school. 

After five plus seasons in the minors, Clay would make his MLB debut with the Bronx Bombers during the 1977 season earning a World Series ring. He would also earn a second World Series ring the following year as the Yankees bested the Los Angeles Dodgers in back-to-back Fall Classics.

Despite earning World Series rings in consecutive seasons, Clay did not live up to expectations and was publicly maligned by both Yankees owners George Steinbrenner and Yankees manager Billy Martin. This was no small feat considering how Steinbrenner and Martin hardly ever agreed on anything.

By 1980, Clay was in a Texas Rangers uniform before finishing his big-league career with the Seattle Mariners in 1981. His professional career was over at the age of 27. In 111 career games (including 36 starts) over five seasons, Clay went 10-24 with a 4.68 ERA. Control was a problem for Clay as he would issue 141 walks against 129 strikeouts.

Life after baseball proved difficult with a myriad of bad choices which led to frequent run ins with the law with charges and convictions of grand larceny and DUI which would lead to jail time. It does not appear Clay had any legal infractions after being released from prison in 2012. One can only hope that Clay's last decade or so had some measure of peace.

As to his time on the mound, Ken Clay did have a moment in the sun. It happened on October 3, 1978, when the Yankees faced the Kansas City Royals in Game 1 of the ALCS. It was the day after the Yankees earned the AL East crown in Boston on an infamous HR by Bucky Dent. In that first game of the ALCS, Clay pitched 3.2 innings of scoreless relief earning a save despite issuing three walks. 

Ken Clay may have more bad times than good both on and off the field, but the good times he had can never be taken away from him now or ever. R.I.P.