Jay Allen Kleven (December 2, 1949 – June 30, 2009) was a

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), ...

player in 1976 for the

New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. They are one of two major league ...

. He played in 2 games as a

catcher Catcher is a Baseball positions, position in baseball and softball. When a Batter (baseball), batter takes their at bat, turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the (home plate, home) Umpire (baseball), umpire, and recei ...

that year due to injuries to starting catcher

Jerry Grote Gerald Wayne Grote (born October 6, 1942) is an American former professional baseball player. He played the majority of his Major League Baseball career as a catcher for the New York Mets, catching every inning of the franchise's first two World ...

and second-string catcher

Ron Hodges Ronald Wray Hodges (born June 22, 1949) is a former catcher in Major League Baseball, who spent his entire 12-year career with the New York Mets. Hodges was originally drafted by the Baltimore Orioles in the sixth round of the 1970 Major League ...

. Kleven singled in his next to final at bat as a major leaguer, going one for five for his career. This lone hit of his career drove in two runs against future Hall-of Famer

Bruce Sutter Howard Bruce Sutter (; January 8, 1953 – October 13, 2022) was an American professional baseball pitcher who played 12 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) between 1976 and 1988. He was one of the sport's dominant relievers in the late 1970 ...

. Kleven attended

California State University, East Bay California State University, East Bay (Cal State East Bay, CSU East Bay, or CSUEB) is a public university in Hayward, California. The university is part of the 23-campus California State University system and offers 136 undergraduate and 60 pos ...

Hayward, California Hayward () is a city located in Alameda County, California in the East Bay subregion of the San Francisco Bay Area. With a population of 162,954 as of 2020, Hayward is the sixth largest city in the Bay Area and the third largest in Alameda Coun ...

, where he played baseball from 1967–1971. He was named to the All Far Western First Team twice and is listed in the CSUEB Intercollegiate Athletics Hall of Fame.CSUEB, Athletics Hall of Fame
, accessed December 19, 2007

References

External links

SABR BioProject
1949 births 2009 deaths Baseball players from Oakland, California Major League Baseball catchers American people of Norwegian descent New York Mets players Visalia Mets players Cal State East Bay Pioneers baseball players People from San Lorenzo, California Baseball players from Alameda County, California Indianapolis Indians players Tidewater Tides players Victoria Toros players {{US-baseball-catcher-1940s-stub