Ken Clay, Key Reliever for 1977-78 Yankees Champions, Dies at 71

Ken Clay, the right-handed pitcher who secured a vital save in the 1978 ALCS for the New York Yankees, passed away in Lynchburg, Virginia, at the age of 71.

Ken Clay, a right-handed pitcher who earned two World Series rings with the New York Yankees, died Thursday at his residence in Lynchburg, Virginia, at the age of 71. Dr. Jim Warren of the Centra Heart & Vascular Institute attributed the Ken Clay death to complications involving heart and kidney failure. Over a five-season span in Major League Baseball, Clay compiled a 10-24 win-loss record, maintaining a 4.68 ERA and recording three saves across 368.1 innings of work. His professional journey included 111 total appearances, split between 36 starts and 75 relief outings for the Yankees, Texas Rangers, and Seattle Mariners.

The pinnacle of Clay’s athletic career arrived on October 3, 1978, during Game 1 of the American League Championship Series against the Kansas City Royals. Summoned from the bullpen in the bottom of the sixth inning with the bases loaded and one out, the then-24-year-old induced a double play to escape the jam. He proceeded to throw 3.2 scoreless innings, allowing only two hits while striking out two batters. This performance preserved a 7-1 victory for New York and earned Clay a postseason save, a feat that remains his most celebrated contribution to the franchise's history.

During the 1978 World Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers, Clay’s efficiency wavered. In Game 1, he entered the contest in the seventh inning and surrendered a three-run home run to Davey Lopes, contributing to an 11-5 Yankees loss. Despite this setback, he remained a member of the roster that eventually secured the championship in six games. This followed his participation in the 1977 World Series, where he made two relief appearances totaling 2.1 innings against the same Los Angeles squad, yielding one earned run.

Statistically, 1978 served as Clay’s most active year, as he logged 100.2 innings and posted a 3-4 record with a 3.93 ERA. However, the 1979 campaign proved difficult, resulting in a 1-7 record and a ballooning 5.70 ERA over 72.2 innings. This dip in production led Yankees owner George Steinbrenner to publicly label the pitcher a "morning glory," a derogatory racing term for a horse that performs exceptionally in practice but fails during the actual race. The critique signaled the beginning of the end for Clay’s tenure in the Bronx.

On August 14, 1980, the Yankees traded Clay to the Texas Rangers to acquire future Hall of Fame pitcher Gaylord Perry. During his brief stay in Arlington, Clay appeared in 10 games, starting eight of them, and finished the season with a 2-3 record and a 4.60 ERA. The Rangers subsequently traded him to the Seattle Mariners following the conclusion of the 1980 season. His time in Seattle was limited to the 1981 season, where he pitched 61.1 innings across 22 games, ending with a 2-7 record and a 5.14 ERA.

Clay’s major league career concluded abruptly when the Mariners released him during spring training in 1982. He finished his time in the big leagues with 163 strikeouts and 147 walks. Beyond the diamond, the former pitcher faced significant legal hurdles. In 1987, he pleaded guilty to grand larceny in Virginia after stealing more than $16,000 from a company that manufactured championship rings. This incident resulted in a five-year suspended sentence and a requirement to pay full restitution to his former employer.

Legal troubles followed Clay into the next decade. In 1992, a judge in Virginia sentenced him to one year in jail for the theft of $550 from a local car dealership. By 2001, his legal issues shifted to Florida, where he faced charges for defrauding three credit card companies. Investigators determined he had used the personal identification information of a former girlfriend to open fraudulent accounts, leading to a guilty plea for forgery and a court order to repay $40,000 to the affected financial institutions.

Despite the controversies that marked his later years, Clay is remembered by baseball historians for his role in the late-1970s Yankees dynasty. He was a versatile arm capable of pitching multiple innings in high-leverage situations, as evidenced by his 1978 ALCS heroics. His death in Lynchburg marks the loss of another member of the "Bronx Zoo" era teams that dominated the American League. He remains one of the few pitchers to have earned multiple World Series titles within their first two years of major league service.