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03/30 11:55 CDT Ken Clay, who pitched on Yankees' world championship teams in
1977-78, dies at age 71
Ken Clay, who pitched on Yankees' world championship teams in 1977-78, dies at
age 71
By The Associated Press
Ken Clay, who won World Series championships with the New York Yankees in
1977-78 to highlight his five-year major league career, has died at the age of
71.
Dr. Jim Warner, executive medical director for the Centra Heart & Vascular
Institute in Lynchburg, Virginia, notified the Yankees on Sunday that Clay died
Thursday at home in Lynchburg. Warner said Clay's cause of death was heart and
kidney issues.
A reliever for most of his career, Clay made his major league debut in June
1977 and appeared in two games in the World Series against the Los Angeles
Dodgers. In 1978, also against the Dodgers, he gave up a three-run homer to
Davey Lopes in Game 1 in his only appearance.
His best postseason outing came in the opener of the 1978 American League
Championship Series against Kansas City. The Yankees led 4-0 when Clay entered
with one out and the bases loaded in the sixth inning. Clay pitched 3 2/3
scoreless innings and earned the save in a 7-1 win.
Clay was 1-7 in 1979 and finished the season in the minors. He was still in the
minors when the Yankees traded him to the Texas Rangers for Gaylord Perry the
next year. He made eight starts for the Rangers in 1980, going 2-3, and was
traded to the Seattle Mariners after the season. The Mariners released him in
spring training in 1982.
Clay made 111 appearances in the majors in his career, including 36 starts, and
was 10-24 with three saves and a 4.68 ERA.
As Clay struggled in 1979, Yankees owner George Steinbrenner criticized him for
underachieving, famously calling him a "morning glory," a reference to
racehorses that turn in excellent morning workouts but don't perform well in
races.
Clay also had a run of legal issues. In 1987, he pleaded guilty in Virginia to
stealing more than $16,000 from a ring distributor he worked for after his
baseball career ended. In 1992, he was sentenced to one year in a Virginia jail
for stealing $550 from the car dealership where he worked. In 2001, he pleaded
guilty to forgery and other charges in Florida and agreed to repay more than
$40,000 to creditors for using an ex-girlfriend's personal information to
defraud three credit card companies.
___
This story has been corrected to show that the last name of the executive
medical director for the Centra Heart & Vascular Institute is Jim Warner, not
Warren.
___
AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/MLB
