Claiborne Henry Bryant (November 16, 1911 – April 9, 1999) was a

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

who played from 1935 through 1940 for the Chicago Cubs. Listed at , , Bryant batted and threw right handed. He was born in

Madison Heights, Virginia Madison Heights is a census-designated place (CDP) in Amherst County, Virginia, United States. The population was 10,893 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Lynchburg Metropolitan Statistical Area. History Fort Riverview (44AH91 and 44AH195), ...

. Bryant spent parts of six seasons in the Minor Legues before joining the Cubs in 1935. His most productive season came in 1938, when he won 19 games with a 3.10

earned run average In baseball statistics, earned run average (ERA) is the average of earned runs allowed by a pitcher per nine innings pitched (i.e. the traditional length of a game). It is determined by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the number ...

and led the National League with 135 strikeouts, while pitching seven consecutive complete games, winning six of them in the first 25 days in September, to help the Cubs erase a nine-game deficit and capture an unlikely pennant. Bryant went 32–20 with a 3.73 ERA in parts of six seasons for the Cubs. He began to experience elbow and shoulder pain, and this led to his retirement from baseball in 1940. Bryant was an exceptionally good hitting pitcher in his six-year major league career, posting a .266

batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average is ...

(51-for-192), scoring 48 runs, with 5 home runs and 28 RBI. Afterwards, Bryant was a longtime

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities ...

in the Brooklyn/Los Angeles Dodgers minor league system, and also served as a pitching coach for the Dodgers in 1961 and the

Cleveland Indians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. Since , they have played at Progressive Fi ...

in 1967 and 1974. He also was a roving pitching instructor in the Cleveland organization. Ned Garver said he learned the fundamentals of pitching from Bryant when he managed the Newark Moundsmen. Bryant managed winter ball for the

Leones del Caracas The Caracas Base Ball Club C.A. or better known by its commercial name as the ''Leones del Caracas'', is a professional baseball team of the Venezuelan Professional Baseball League. In its creation, its headquarters are the University Stadium of C ...

club of the

Venezuelan League The Venezuelan Professional Baseball League or Liga Venezolana de Béisbol Profesional (LVBP) is the professional baseball league in Venezuela. The league's champion takes part in the Caribbean Series each year. History Early years Baseball exp ...

, guiding his team to the 1956–1957 pennant while advancing to the

1957 Caribbean Series The ninth edition of the Caribbean Series (''Serie del Caribe'') was played in 1957. It was held from February 9 through February 14, featuring the champion baseball teams of Cuba, Tigres de Marianao; Panama, Cerveza Balboa; Puerto Rico, Indios d ...

. Bryant died in 1999 in Boca Raton, Florida, at the age of 87.

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SABR Biography Project
* : {{DEFAULTSORT:Bryant, Clay 1911 births 1999 deaths Asheville Tourists managers Baseball players from Virginia Birmingham Barons players Burlington Bees players Caribbean Series managers Chambersburg Young Yanks players Chicago Cubs players Cleveland Indians coaches Keokuk Indians players Los Angeles Angels (minor league) managers Los Angeles Dodgers coaches Major League Baseball pitchers Major League Baseball pitching coaches Montreal Royals managers National League strikeout champions New Orleans Pelicans (baseball) players People from Madison Heights, Virginia Portland Beavers managers Springfield Senators players St. Paul Saints (AA) managers Tulsa Oilers (baseball) players Zanesville Cubs players Zanesville Greys players American expatriate baseball people in Venezuela Zanesville Dodgers players

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