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

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("Pitch (baseball), pitches") the Baseball (ball), baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of out (baseball), retiring a batter (baseball), batter, ...

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 ** Stopper (plug), or "cork", a cylindrical or conical object used to seal a container *** Wine cork an item to seal or reseal wine Places Ireland * ...

, 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

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, 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 (baseball), 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 ...

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 tea ...

. 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 means the batter is out, unless the third strike is not caught by the catcher and the batter reaches first base safe ...

of opposing pitcher Dave Ferriss. In Cleary's short

MLB Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

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, while still enrolled at Commerce, Cleary played on various semi-professional teams in

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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

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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 Manhattan Sportspeople from Cork (city) Irish emigrants to the United States

Major League career

Personal life

See also

References

External links