Joseph Christopher Cleary (December 3, 1918 – June 3, 2004), nicknamed "Fire", 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), ...

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 ...

for one game in 1945. The right-hander was born in

Cork Cork or CORK may refer to: Materials * Cork (material), an impermeable buoyant plant product ** Cork (plug), a cylindrical or conical object used to seal a container ***Wine cork Places Ireland * Cork (city) ** Metropolitan Cork, also known as G ...

, and he was the last native of Ireland to appear in a major league game until P. J. Conlon debuted for the

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on May 7, 2018. He also holds the major league record for the highest ERA of any pitcher who retired a batter.

Major League career

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 The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight ...

, he gave up 8 baserunners (5

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and 3 walks) and 7

earned runs In baseball, an earned run is any run that was fully enabled by the offensive team's production in the face of competent play from the defensive team. Conversely, an unearned run is a run that would not have been scored without the aid of an err ...

in just of an

inning In baseball, softball, and similar games, an inning is the basic unit of play, consisting of two halves or frames, the "top" (first half) and the "bottom" (second half). In each half, one team bats until three outs are made, with the other team ...

. The only out that he recorded was a

strikeout In baseball or softball, a strikeout (or strike-out) occurs when a batter accumulates three strikes during a time at bat. It usually means that the batter is out. A strikeout is a statistic recorded for both pitchers and batters, and is deno ...

of opposing pitcher

Dave Ferriss David Meadow Ferriss (December 5, 1921 – November 24, 2016) was an American Major League Baseball player who pitched for the Boston Red Sox from 1945 through 1950. Ferriss was given the nickname 'Boo' as the result of a childhood inability to p ...

. In Cleary's short

MLB 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), ...

career he had a 0–0 record with 1

and an

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of 189.00.

Personal life

Joe Cleary was born in 1918 in Cork, Ireland and moved to the

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in 1928. Cleary attended Commerce High School where he played baseball, once headlining ''

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''. Later, whilst still enrolled at Commerce, Cleary played on various semi-professional teams in

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

in order to supplement his father's income. Such teams included the Brooklyn Bay Parkways and the Puerto Rican Stars. He died at the age of 85 in

Yonkers, New York Yonkers () is a city in Westchester County, New York, United States. Developed along the Hudson River, it is the third most populous city in the state of New York, after New York City and Buffalo. The population of Yonkers was 211,569 as enu ...

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cleary, Joe 1918 births 2004 deaths Washington Senators (1901–1960) players Major League Baseball pitchers Major League Baseball players from Ireland Irish baseball players Orlando Senators players Charlotte Hornets (baseball) players Chattanooga Lookouts players Buffalo Bisons (minor league) players Jersey City Giants players Gainesville G-Men players Charleston Rebels players Augusta Tigers players Anniston Rams players Greensburg Green Sox players Burials at Gate of Heaven Cemetery (Hawthorne, New York) Baseball players from New York City Sportspeople from Cork (city) Irish emigrants to the United States

Major League career

Personal life

See also

References

External links