Once again, it’s time for Trivia(l) Tidbit Tuesday. I hope you are enjoying this weekly presentation of baseball occurrences that for some reason caught The Roundtable’s eye. (I’m particularly fond of unexpected performances and statistical coincidences.) These won’t necessarily be momentous occurrences, just events, statistics or coincidences that grabbed my attention. I’m also drawn to baseball “unicorns,” those one-of-a-kind accomplishments or statistics.
Photo: Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons “https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Joey_Jay_1962.png”><img width=”256″ alt=”Joey Jay with the Cincinnati Reds in an issue of Baseball Digest in 1962.”
This week’s Tidbit give me a chance to look back at one of my boyhood heroes. As a Milwaukee native and Little Leaguer, I was pretty excited when Joey Jay signed with the Milwaukee Braves and became the first former Little Leaguer to appear in the major leagues. That made him an MLB “first,” but (of course) he did not remain the only Little Leaguer to make it to the Show. Still, he does hold “unicorn” status as the first and only pitcher (to date) to retire with exactly 99 MLB wins and 999 MLB strikeouts. Ten pitchers have retired with 99 wins (see chart). Jay is the only pitcher (no matter how many wins) to retire with 999 strikeouts. Bo Ewing (1902-12) and Bill Lee (1934-47) retired with 998 whiffs. Words of explanation: The retirements noted in this post could have been voluntary or involuntary (released, not signed). Also, a number of these players continued to play professionally (minor leagues) after their final MLB game.
Jay had an interesting career along the way to forming the “99-999 Club.” Jay first played Little League ball in Middletown, Connecticut, as a 12-year-old. Since 12-year-olds were not allowed to pitch, he took the field at first base. Jay went on, however, to become a dominating pitcher in American Legion and High School ball. He was signed by the Braves in 1953 (their first year in Milwaukee) as a 17-year-old for a reported $40,000 bonus. He was immediately brought up to the big-league club (there was a rule at the time that players signing bonuses of more than $4,000 – termed bonus babies – could not be sent to the minors for two years without be subject to MLB’s unrestricted draft.
The 17-year-old Jay got his first MLB start on September 13, 1953, in the second game of a doubleheader (the last home game of Milwaukee’s season) and pitched 6 1/3 innings of scoreless ball in a 3-0 win over the Reds. The game ended early due to weather and Jay was credited with a shutout. On the season, he went 1-0 in three appearances, giving up six hits and five walks – but no runs – in ten innings of major-league work. In 1954, Jay went 1-0, 6.50 in 15 games (one start). With his two-year MLB “bonus baby” requirement fulfilled, Jay pitched primarily in the minor leagues from 1955-1957 (82 minor-league appearances, 12 with the Braves). After a 17-10, 3.31 season at Triple-A in 1975, Jay got a more extended MLB chance in 1958 (18 games, including 12 starts, for the Braves), going 7-5, 2.14, with six complete games and three shutouts. In 1959-60, he went 15-19, 3.67 for the Braves before being traded to the Reds, where his career took off.
Jay was 21-10, 3.53 for the Reds in 1961 (leading the NL in wins and shutouts – four) and 21-14, 3.76 in in 1962. Those two seasons, he pitched 30 complete games in 71 starts. The Reds won the NL Championship in 1961, but lost the World Series to the Yankees four games to one, with Jay getting the Reds’ only win (a complete-game, four-hit, 6-2 win in Game Two.)
From 1963 through his final MLB season (1966), Jay went 33-43, 4.13 to end with an MLB career line of 99-91, 3.77 in 310 appearances – with 63 complete games and 16 shutouts in 203 starts.
The Braves bookended Jay’s MLB career. Jay began his MLB career with the Braves in 1953 (the franchise’s first season in Milwaukee) and finished his career with the Braves in 1966 (traded from the Reds in June of that season), the Braves’ first year in Atlanta.
Side note: Five pitchers have retired with 99 MLB saves: (Jorge Julio (2001-09); Firpo Marberry (1923-36); AJ Ramos (2012-21); and Drew Storen (2010-17). No pitcher has retired with 999 MLB appearances. Lindy McDaniel is closest at 987 (1955-75). Nine pitchers have retired with 99 MLB starts – and nine have retired with 99 MLB complete games. Russ Christopher (1942-48) retired with 999 2/3 innings pitched.
Primary resources: stathead.com; Joey Jay, Last Living Player on First Milwaukee Braves Team, Dies at 89, by JR Radcliffe, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, November 6, 2024; Joey Jay, Society for American Baseball Research Bio, by Joseph Wancho.
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