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On This Date in Sports July 21, 1970

In collaboration with the Sportsecyclopedia.com

KirbySD

The San Diego Padres did not give their fans much to cheer about in their early days. Clay Kirby had the fans on their feet as he flirted with the team’s first No-Hitter against the New York Mets. However, after allowing a run in the first inning Kirby trailed 1-0 and was lifted for a pinch hitter in the eighth. The Mets would collect three hits in the ninth winning 3-0.

Born in Washington D.C. on June 25, 1948, Clayton Kirby Jr. was selected by the St. Louis Cardinals in the 1966 draft. Before ever playing a game with the Cardinals, Kirby was taken by the San Diego Padres in the 1969 expansion draft. The Padres gave Clay Kirby a quicker path to the majors as made his debut on April 11, 1969, losing to the San Francisco Giants 8-0. Kirby experienced the pains of pitching on an expansion team as he led the National League in losses with a record of 7-20, despite a respectable ERA of 3.80.

The Padres and Clay Kirby continued to struggle in their second season, as he held a record of 5-11 going into a start against the defending World Champion New York Mets at San Diego Stadium. Kirby created early trouble for himself as he walked Tommie Agee to lead off the game. Agee promptly got into scoring position by stealing second base. After a popup by Buddy Harrelson, Ken Singleton joined Agee on base, thanks to a second walk from the Padres pitcher. Agee and Singleton added pressure on Kirby with a double steal to get into scoring position. Art Shamsky followed with a grounder to Ron Slocum at second scoring Tommie Agee with the game’s first run. Clay Kirby ended the inning by striking out Cleon Jones, as the Mets had a 1-0 lead without the benefit of a hit. Jim McAndrew got the start for the Mets led by Gil Hodges and retired the first six batters before Ed Spiezio got the first hit of the game with a leadoff double in the third. McAndrew easily retired the next three hitters to keep New York in front 1-0. The Padres added a second hit when Al Ferrara had a two-out double in the fourth. In the fifth, Bob Barton singled, but none of the Padres hits led to run as the Mets continued to lead 1-0. Clay Kirby had his wildness, issuing five walks but the Mets were unable to get a hit as the got later. In the eighth inning, Manager Preston Gomez faced a difficult decision as Kirby was scheduled to hit third in the inning. After McAndrew retired the first two hitters, Gomez decided to lift Kirby for pinch hitter Cito Gaston who struck out as boos rained over San Diego. The Padre’s quest for the first no-hitter ended in the ninth as Harrelson singled off reliever Jack Baldschun. The Mets would add two more hits in the ninth including a two-run single off the bat of Joe Foy to win the game 3-0 as McAndrew went the distance to improve to 5-8 on the season.

As the Padres play in their 50th season, they are still waiting for their first No Hitter. They are only current Major League franchise to have never thrown a No Hitter. Some refer to the Padres inability to throw a No-Hitter as the curse of Clay Kirby. The New York Mets themselves had similar bad luck when it came to No Hitters, as they did not throw one in their first 50 seasons. Finally, on June 1, 2013, the Mets No-Hitter drought came to an end thanks to Johan Santana. It took the Mets a record 8,019 games to get a No-Hitter, the Padres are fast approaching that dubious record, standing currently at 7,913 games.