Joseph Richard Jay (born August 15, 1935) is an American former professional baseball

starting pitcher In baseball (hardball or softball), a starting pitcher or starter is the first pitcher in the game for each team. A pitcher is credited with a game started if they throw the first pitch to the opponent's first batter of a game. Starting pit ...

, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from through , Jay played for the Milwaukee / Atlanta Braves (1953–, –, 1966), and

Cincinnati Reds The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division and were a charter member of ...

(–1966). He was a

switch-hitter In baseball, a switch hitter is a player who bats both right-handed and left-handed, usually right-handed against left-handed pitchers and left-handed against right-handed pitchers. Characteristics Right-handed batters generally hit better aga ...

and threw right-handed. In a 13-season big league career, Jay posted a 99–91 win–loss record, with 999 strikeouts, and a 3.77 earned run average (ERA), in 1546.1

innings An innings is one of the divisions of a cricket match during which one team takes its turn to bat. Innings also means the period in which an individual player bats (acts as either striker or nonstriker). Innings, in cricket, and rounders, is bot ...

. In July 2008, he was inducted into the Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame.

Bonus baby

In addition to being the first Little League player to advance to the major leagues, Jay was one of the first " bonus baby" players in the major leagues. This resulted when he signed a significant contract ($20,000) with the Braves, which forced the Braves to keep Jay on their major league roster for two seasons because of the contract's amount. On September 20, 1953, at the age of 17, making his first career start (having pitched only one game in relief previous), he pitched a seven-inning complete game shutout (the game was shortened due to rain), but generally was unremarkable in his two years with the team. Following the end of his two years, he was sent to the minors to gain experience on a staff that already was loaded with Hall of Famer Warren Spahn,

Bob Buhl Robert Ray Buhl (August 12, 1928 – February 16, 2001) was an American right-handed starting pitcher in Major League Baseball who played with the Milwaukee Braves (1953–69), Milwaukee Braves, Chicago Cubs, and Philadelphia Phillies. A native o ...

and Lew Burdette. Jay went 7–5 with an ERA of 2.14 in 18 games for the Braves in his best season (1958), becoming the first pitcher (fourth player overall) to win the NL Player of the Month award in July (going 5-2 in seven starts, posting an ERA of 1.39, and earning 46 strikeouts in innings) but a broken finger kept him out of the World Series.

Second chance with Cincinnati

The Braves traded Jay to the

after the 1960 season for infielder

Roy McMillan Roy is a masculine given name and a family surname with varied origin. In Anglo-Norman England, the name derived from the Norman ''roy'', meaning "king", while its Old French cognate, ''rey'' or ''roy'' (modern ''roi''), likewise gave rise t ...

. Braves General Manager at the time, John McHale, reportedly made the deal based on the feeling

Carl Willey Carlton Francis Willey (June 6, 1931 – July 20, 2009) was an American professional baseball player who pitched eight seasons for the Milwaukee Braves and New York Mets of Major League Baseball. He was a native of Cherryfield, Maine, who threw ...

could do a better job for Milwaukee than Jay.Braves Get McMillan in three-way deal
/ref> Jay took full advantage of the trade, as he became a key figure in the Reds' stunning revival in 1961. Jay won 21 games (the first pitcher to win 20 since Ewell Blackwell in 1947), tied for the league lead in wins and shutouts, and won his second NL Player of the Month award in May (winning all six starts, including a May 4 one-hitter against the Phillies, a 2.72 ERA, and 38 strikeouts in innings) as the Reds surged to their first National League pennant since 1940. However, the Reds faced a powerful New York Yankees club which won 109 games and featured

Roger Maris Roger Eugene Maris (September 10, 1934 – December 14, 1985) was an American professional baseball right fielder who played 12 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB). He is best known for setting a new MLB single-season home run record with 61 ...

, Mickey Mantle and Whitey Ford, as the Reds lost in five games. The lone Reds win occurred in Game 2, a 6-2 victory as Jay threw a complete-game four-hitter at Yankee Stadium, being Jay's single-game career highlight. On May 1, 1962, at the

Polo Grounds The Polo Grounds was the name of three stadiums in Upper Manhattan, New York City, used mainly for professional baseball and American football from 1880 through 1963. The original Polo Grounds, opened in 1876 and demolished in 1889, was built fo ...

, off New York Mets pitcher Sherman Jones, Jay hit a three-run home run (base runners were Wally Post and Leo Cárdenas), in the sixth inning, for his first MLB home run. At

Crosley Field Crosley Field was a Major League Baseball park in Cincinnati, Ohio. It was the home field of the National League's Cincinnati Reds from 1912 through June 24, 1970, and the original Cincinnati Bengals football team, members of the second (1937) an ...

, on May 28, 1962, Jay hit his only other career home run, off Houston Colt .45s pitcher

Bobby Tiefenauer Bobby Gene Tiefenauer (October 10, 1929 – June 13, 2000) was an American professional baseball player and coach. A knuckleball relief pitcher, he pitched for six Major League teams during a ten-year MLB career that stretched between and : the ...

, in the fifth inning, a two-run blast ( Don Zimmer was on base). Jay also won 21 games in 1962 as the Reds won 98 games to finish in third place behind the Giants and Dodgers. Jay's heavy workload in 1961 and 1962 took a toll the following year, as he struggled to a 7–18 record. Jay posted a mark of 11-11 mark in 1964, as the Reds finished a single game behind the eventual World Series champion St. Louis Cardinals. Jay would finish his career by returning to the Braves for their initial season in Atlanta in 1966.

Post-baseball career

Jay resided in Florida after retiring from baseball and pursued a business career. An exploration and drilling company in which he was a partner expanded to own several oil fields in West Virginia. In addition, Jay owned or had ownership stakes in taxicab companies, limousine fleets, a carpet-cleaning company and building maintenance firms.

Family

In October 1954, Jay married Lois Elizabeth Bruggen in Middletown, Connecticut. They were the parents of five children.

References

External links