Patrick Leonard Darcy (born May 12, 1950) is an American former professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

player. He played his entire career 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), ...

as a right-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 ...

for the

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 ...

from through . Darcy was a member of the Reds team known as

The Big Red Machine The Big Red Machine is a nickname for the Cincinnati Reds baseball team that dominated the National League from 1970 to 1979 and is widely recognized as being among the best in baseball history. The team won six National League West Division tit ...

that won two consecutive World Series championships in and . Signed as an amateur free agent in 1969 by the

Houston Astros The Houston Astros are an American professional baseball team based in Houston, Texas. The Astros compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division, having moved to the division in 2013 after ...

, Darcy came to the Cincinnati Reds organization in 1974 when he was exchanged for

Denis Menke Denis John Menke (July 21, 1940 – December 1, 2020) was a professional baseball infielder and coach. He played all or parts of 13 seasons in Major League Baseball from 1962 to 1974. He played for the Milwaukee / Atlanta Braves (1962–67), H ...

. Darcy is best known as the pitcher who gave up

Carlton Fisk Carlton Ernest Fisk (born December 26, 1947), nicknamed "Pudge" and "The Commander", is an American former professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball as a catcher from 1969 to 1993 for the Boston Red Sox (1969, 1971–1980) a ...

walk-off home run In baseball, a walk-off home run is a home run that ends the game. For a home run to end the game, it must be hit in the bottom of the final inning of the game and generate enough runs to exceed the opponent's score. Because the opponent will not ...

in Game 6 of the

1975 World Series The 1975 World Series was the championship series of Major League Baseball's (MLB) 1975 season. The 72nd edition of the World Series, it was a best-of-seven playoff played between the American League (AL) champion Boston Red Sox and the Natio ...

. The following season, after recording a 6.23 ERA in 11 appearances with the Reds, Darcy was demoted to the team's

Indianapolis Indians The Indianapolis Indians are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League (IL) and the Triple-A affiliate of the Pittsburgh Pirates. They are located in Indianapolis, Indiana, and play their home games at Victory Field, which open ...

farm club in June of that year. Darcy would never again pitch at the major league level. Darcy was born near Dayton, Ohio. His family relocated to

Tucson, Arizona , "(at the) base of the black ill , nicknames = "The Old Pueblo", "Optics Valley", "America's biggest small town" , image_map = , mapsize = 260px , map_caption = Interactive map ...

when he was a small child, and he considers Tucson his hometown; Darcy was a standout high school outfielder and pitcher for

Rincon High School Rincon High School is a public high school in Tucson, Arizona. The school serves about 1,100 students in grades 9 to 12 in the Tucson Unified School District (TUSD). Since 1985, the campus has been shared with University High School, a separate ...

. Before becoming a professional pitcher, he attended and played for

Mesa Community College Mesa Community College (MCC) is a public community college in Mesa, Arizona. It is the largest of the 10 community colleges in the Maricopa County Community College District, the largest community college district in the United States in ter ...

. Darcy returned to Tucson after his major league career, earning his degree at the

University of Arizona The University of Arizona (Arizona, U of A, UArizona, or UA) is a public land-grant research university in Tucson, Arizona. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, it was the first university in the Arizona Territory. T ...

, starting his family, becoming active in the real estate industry and various aspects of local civic life. Darcy hosted local sports talk radio programs, ran for mayor of Tucson twice, and drew upon his connections and relationships in Major League Baseball to help bring the

Colorado Rockies The Colorado Rockies are an American professional baseball team based in Denver. The Rockies compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. The team plays its home baseball games at Coors Fie ...

to Tucson in 1993 as a spring training team. Darcy was inducted into the Pima County (Arizona) Sports Hall of Fame in 1995 and is currently the president of the organization.

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1950 births Living people Major League Baseball pitchers Cincinnati Reds players People from Troy, Ohio Baseball players from Ohio Mesa Thunderbirds baseball players Arizona Instructional League Mesa players Arkansas Travelers players Columbus Astros players Covington Astros players Denver Bears players Indianapolis Indians players Iowa Oaks players New Orleans Pelicans (baseball) players Oklahoma City 89ers players Raleigh-Durham Triangles players St. Petersburg Cardinals players Williamsport Astros players {{US-baseball-pitcher-1950s-stub