Clay Kirby

Who was Clay Kirby?

Clayton Laws Kirby, Jr. was a Major League Baseball pitcher for the San Diego Padres, Cincinnati Reds and Montreal Expos.

He 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, he had a respectable 3.80 earned run average in 35 starts with 215.1 innings pitched.

A year later 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 on a walk and two stolen bases by Tommie Agee and a ground out.