LYNCHBURG, Va. — He never led the rotation or carried a pennant race on his arm. But when the New York Yankees needed him in October, Ken Clay showed up. That is why his death matters to everyone who grew up watching pinstripes dynasty baseball.
Clay pitched on the Yankees’ back-to-back World Series championship rosters in 1977 and 1978. He spent five seasons in the major leagues and carved his name, quietly but permanently, into two of the most celebrated runs in Yankees history.
Yankees confirm death of two-time World Series champion
Dr. Jim Warner, executive medical director for the Centra Heart and Vascular Institute in Lynchburg, notified the Yankees on Sunday that Clay had died the previous Thursday at his home in Lynchburg. Warner said Clay’s cause of death was heart and kidney complications.
Kenneth Earl Clay was born April 6, 1954. He was 71. He made 111 appearances in the majors over five seasons, including 36 starts, finishing his career 10-24 with a 4.68 ERA and three saves.
A farm system star who faced Steinbrenner’s harsh judgment
The Yankees selected Clay in the second round of the 1972 draft, 38th overall. He rose fast through the system. He posted a 2.97 ERA in rookie ball, went 10-2 with a 2.63 ERA in Double-A at 21, and compiled a 28-18 record with a 3.21 ERA over four Triple-A seasons.
The big leagues, however, proved tougher. Clay went 6-14 with a 4.72 ERA across three stints in the Bronx. Owner George Steinbrenner grew impatient and publicly labeled Clay a “morning glory” during his 1979 struggles, a horse-racing term for a horse that works well in practice but disappoints on race day.
The postseason outing that defined Clay’s Yankees career
Clay’s most important moment in a Yankees uniform came in Game 1 of the 1978 American League Championship Series against Kansas City. The Yankees led 4-0 when the pitcher entered the sixth with one out and the bases loaded.
He threw 3 2/3 scoreless innings. He earned the save. The Yankees won 7-1 and swept the Royals in four games to advance to the World Series.
Clay also pitched in the 1977 World Series against the Dodgers. In the 1978 Fall Classic, he surrendered a three-run home run to Davey Lopes in Game 1. The Yankees won anyway, in six games. He left with two rings.
Back-to-back inside-the-park homers and a pennant-race meltdown
Clay’s regular-season career in pinstripes also featured two of the strangest sequences in Yankees lore.
On Aug. 27, 1977, pitching against Texas, he gave up back-to-back inside-the-park home runs on consecutive pitches. Toby Harrah hit a fly ball that Lou Piniella misplayed at the wall. Then Bump Wills drilled the very next pitch over Mickey Rivers’ head in center, the ball caroming off Rivers’ glove to the wall.
The second came in a suspended game against Boston, resumed Aug. 2, 1978, with the score tied 5-5. Clay retired seven straight before Dwight Evans lifted a pop fly down the right-field line. Reggie Jackson jogged over and watched it land in the seats. The Red Sox won 7-5 in 17 innings. The Yankees fell to 8.5 games back before their legendary late-season surge.
Career fades out, legal troubles followed
Clay went 1-7 in 1979 and returned to the minors. The Yankees dealt him to Texas the next year for Gaylord Perry. He made eight starts for the Rangers in 1980 and was later traded to Seattle. The Mariners released him in spring training 1982.
After baseball, Clay faced a series of legal problems: a theft conviction in 1987, a jail sentence in 1992, and a 2001 forgery guilty plea in Florida requiring repayment of more than $40,000.
None of that changes what he did in October. Ken Clay pitched for the Yankees when it mattered most, earned two championship rings, and belongs to a group of players who helped restore a dynasty. That legacy belongs to him.
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