Kenneth Grant Dayley (born February 25, 1959) is a former

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Modern professional ...

player. A left-handed

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 ...

, Dayley played all or part of eleven seasons in

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), ...

between 1982 and 1993.

Career

Braves

After pitching at the

University of Portland , mottoeng = The truth will set you free , established = 1901 , type = Private university , religious_affiliation = Catholic (Congregation of Holy Cross) , endowment = $218 million , president = Robert D. Kelly , students = 3,731 (fall 20 ...

, Dayley was selected in the first round, as the third pick overall, of the 1980 amateur draft by

Atlanta Braves The Atlanta Braves are an American professional baseball team based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Braves compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East division. The Braves were founded in Bos ...

. He made his Major League Baseball debut with the Braves on May 13, 1982. During his Braves career, he was used as a swingman, both starting and relieving.

Cardinals

Dayley was traded along with

Mike Jorgensen Michael Jorgensen (born August 16, 1948) is an American former professional baseball first baseman and outfielder who currently works in the St. Louis Cardinals' front office. The New York Mets drafted him in the fourth round of the 1966 Major L ...

to the

St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Since the 2006 season, the Cardinals ha ...

on June 15, 1984, for

Ken Oberkfell Kenneth Ray Oberkfell (born May 4, 1956) is an American former third baseman. He played from 1977 to 1992 for six different teams. Oberkfell primarily played third base but he also played over 400 career games at second base. After retiring as a p ...

. After spending most of the rest of that season in the

minor leagues Minor leagues are professional sports leagues which are not regarded as the premier leagues in those sports. Minor league teams tend to play in smaller, less elaborate venues, often competing in smaller cities/markets. This term is used in No ...

, he made it to the majors to stay in 1985, where he was converted to being a full-time

relief pitcher In baseball and softball, a relief pitcher or reliever is a pitcher who enters the game after the starting pitcher is removed because of fatigue, ineffectiveness, injury, or ejection, or for other strategic reasons, such as inclement weat ...

. That would remain his role for the remainder of his MLB career, as he never started another game in the majors. He was released, then re-signed by the Cardinals following the 1986 season, then pitched for them through 1990, after which he was granted free agency.

Postseason record

While with the Cardinals, Dayley had a statistically stellar postseason record. In four postseason series in 1985 and 1987, Dayley appeared in 16 games, pitching 20.2 innings. He won one game, saved five, and posted an

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 ...

of just 0.44. He struck out 15 batters while giving up just 12 baserunners, including just six hits. The only run he gave up, however, was a big one. In Game 6 of the

1987 World Series The 1987 World Series was the championship series of Major League Baseball's (MLB) 1987 season. The 84th edition of the World Series, it was a best-of-seven playoff played between the American League (AL) champion Minnesota Twins and the Natio ...

, With the Minnesota Twins already leading 6–5 in the sixth inning, Dayley was brought in to face left-handed hitter

Kent Hrbek Kent Alan Hrbek (; born May 21, 1960), nicknamed "Herbie", is a former American Major League Baseball first baseman. He played his entire 14-year baseball career with the Minnesota Twins (1981–1994). Hrbek batted left-handed and threw right-hand ...

with the bases loaded and two out. Dayley's first pitch was deposited over the center field fence for a

grand slam Grand Slam most often refers to: * Grand Slam (tennis), one player or pair winning all four major annual tournaments, or the tournaments themselves Grand Slam or Grand slam may also refer to: Games and sports * Grand slam, winning category te ...

. That gave the Twins a 10–5 lead, and they would go on to win the game 11–5, then win Game 7 as well to send the Cardinals to their second World Series loss in three years.

Remaining career

Ken signed with

Toronto Blue Jays The Toronto Blue Jays are a Canadian professional baseball team based in Toronto. The Blue Jays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Since 1989, the team has played its home games ...

in November 1990. Ken made eight relief appearances in 1991, but his season was cut short by injuries, most notably a bout with

vertigo Vertigo is a condition where a person has the sensation of movement or of surrounding objects moving when they are not. Often it feels like a spinning or swaying movement. This may be associated with nausea, vomiting, sweating, or difficulties w ...

from which he never really recovered. He pitched in just four games in 1992, all in the minors. He opened the 1993 season with the Jays, but was released on April 15.Blue Jays jettison Dayley
/ref> Five days later, Dodgers signed him to a minor league contract. Pitching for the

Albuquerque Dukes The Albuquerque Dukes were a minor league baseball team based in Albuquerque, New Mexico. History The first Dukes team was formed in 1915 as part of the Class D Rio Grande Association. The team finished in third place with a 32-25 record. Frank ...

, he appeared in nine games, giving up 14 hits and 12 walks in just 10.1 innings, before being released on June 22, ending his professional career.

Notes

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dayley, Ken 1959 births Living people Albuquerque Dukes players American expatriate baseball players in Canada Atlanta Braves players Baseball players from Idaho Baseball players from Oregon Dunedin Blue Jays players Louisville Redbirds players Major League Baseball pitchers People from Jerome, Idaho Portland Pilots baseball players Richmond Braves players Savannah Braves players Springfield Cardinals players St. Louis Cardinals players Syracuse Chiefs players Toronto Blue Jays players