Joe Cleary

American baseball player
The basics

Quick Facts

IntroAmerican baseball player
PlacesUnited States of America
wasAthlete Baseball player
Work fieldSports
Gender
Male
Birth3 December 1918
Death3 June 2004 (aged 85 years)
The details

Biography

Joseph Christopher Cleary (December 3, 1918 – June 3, 2004), nicknamed "Fire", was a Major League Baseball pitcher for one game in 1945. The right-hander was born in Cork, and he was the last native of Ireland to appear in a major league game. He also holds the major league record for the highest ERA of any pitcher who retired a batter.
Cleary pitched one game in relief for the Washington Senators on August 4, 1945. In the 4th inning of game 2 of a doubleheader against the Boston Red Sox, he gave up 8 baserunners (5 hits and 3 walks) and 7 earned runs in just  1⁄3 of an inning. World War II amputee Bert Shepard came in to relieve and pitched the final 5 1⁄3 innings, giving up just one run.
In Cleary's short MLB career he had a 0–0 record with 1 strikeout and an ERA of 189.00.
He died at the age of 85 in Yonkers, New York.
His brother Timothy F Cleary, also born in Cork, was a presidential appointee and Chairman of the United States Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission ("OSHARC"). He raised 6 children in Bethesda, Maryland Timothy, Maureen, Therese, Richard, Eileen and Gail Cleary.

Trivia

  • In the same game and inning in which Cleary pitched, Red Sox outfielder Tom McBride tied a major league record with 6 runs batted in in one inning.
  • Cleary was relieved by Bert Shepard, who was also playing in his only major league game. Shepard is notable as the only one-legged player in major league history.
  • Cleary's nickname was "Fire."

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