Jim Clancy was an original Blue Jay, selected by Toronto from the Texas organization in the 1976 expansion draft. He was the sixth player chosen, the third by the Blue Jays after Bob Bailor and Jerry Garvin. He was a 20 year old right-hander with what was described at the time as a 95 mph fastball (which would have read about 5 mph on the modern guns) but not a great idea of where it was going.
He was coming off a year when he had walked 98 batters in just 125 IP, pitching for Texas' AA team in San Antonio. He began the 1977 season pitching for Cleveland's AA team in Jersey City because the Blue Jays did not yet have a AA affiliate. After going 5-13 in 20 starts there, while walking 75 batters in 118 innings, the Blue Jays summoned him to the majors after the All-Star Break. Hey, it's not like they had anybody standing in his way.
He made his MLB debut on 26 July 1977, starting against Bert Blyleven and the Rangers and reader, it did not go well. He lasted just two innings, allowing 5 hits and 5 earned runs, and taking the first of his 140 losses as a Blue Jay. Which remains the franchise record. But his next time out, he tossed the first of his 73 Complete Games as a Blue Jay, to beat the Brewers 3-2. In September, he threw the first of his 11 shutouts, against the Orioles. All told, he went 4-9, 5.05 in his 13 starts - he was still just 21 years old.
And he stayed in the starting rotation for the next twelve seasons. He took a big step forward in his sophomore season, going 10-12, 4.09 for a team that lost 102 games - he was starting to get the walks under control, and it was almost impossible to take him deep (he allowed just 10 HR in 193.2 IP that year.) His 1979 season was spoiled by a foot injury that cost him two months in mid-season, but he bounced back with an excellent season in 1980, going 13-16, 3.30 for a team that lost 94 games. He did lead the AL in walks allowed, with 128 of them in 250.2 innings, but he allowed just 19 HRs.
The strike year was a lost year - he went 6-12, 4.90 and while he made most of his starts he never seemed quite right. But then he pretty much blossomed when Bobby Cox came to town. He made his one trip to All Star Game in 1982, and got to pitch in the game. he relieved AL starter Dennis Eckersley in the fourth, and set down Gary Carter, Dale Murphy, and Davey Concepcion in order. That year he led the AL with 40 starts (Clancy is the last non-knuckleballer to start that many games) and went 16-14, 3.71. The key to this new level of effectiveness was simple - he got the walks under control, issuing just 77 free passes in 266.2 innings. And on 28 September, he had the game of his life, against the Twins. Clancy retired the first 24 batters and took his perfect game into the ninth inning. Randy Bush led off and hit a broken bat flare that fell just out of Damaso Garcia's reach and just in front of a charging Jesse Barfield. He had to settle for the one-hit shutout. Buck Martinez recalls firing his mask and glove against the dugout wall, he was so upset. "He deserved a perfect game, he was so good that night."
Clancy wasn't quite as sharp in 1983, but he was still pretty good (15-11, 3.91), and for the first team in his career he actually had a good team behind him. And that was probably his peak as a Blue Jay, 1982-1983 - his final four seasons here were each interesting in their own way, and he was often very good indeed. He just became... erratic. Which was strange in itself - Clancy always seemed so durable and reliable. He was the very definition of a low-maintenance guy, someone who kept everything on an even keel. But in 1984, after a decent start, he suddenly went bad in mid-season, going 6-10, 5.57 in 20 starts from late May through August, before righting himself in September.
His 1985 season got off to a late start because of appendicitis, and he missed a month with a sore shoulder. He had a solid season nonetheless but Cox went with just three starters in the ALCS. So Clancy made his one post-season appearance as a Blue Jay out of the bullpen in the third game. Doyle Alexander hadn't been able to hold a 5-2 lead - well, old Doyle was a great September pitcher who was not-so-great in October. The game was tied 5-5 when Clancy came on to work the eighth. George Brett led off with a single because no Blue Jay pitcher had a chance against Brett that October. Hal McRae bunted him into scoring position, and with two out Clancy sawed Steve Balboni off - but Balboni fisted the ball into shallow left-centre just out of Fernandez's reach. SO Jim Clancy took the loss.
His 1986 season was an adventure. The team went a little weird around him. The other three starters all got off to terrible starts. Jimmy Key would get his game together, but Doyle Alexander was soon traded, and Dave Stieb scuffled all year long. Jim Clancy stood tall, and by the end of August he was 14-7, 3.69 and with about seven starts remaining, he had an outside chance at becoming the first Blue Jay to win 20. At the very least, he should get Stieb's season record of 17 wins. But no. He made those seven starts, and got tagged with the Big L all seven times. He pitched a three hitter against the Tigers, and lost 2-1. He followed that with another CG against the Red Sox, and lost that one 2-0.
He came back strong in 1987, which was one of the three best seasons of his career - he went 15-11, 3.54 and struck out a career high 180. But in his last start of the season, on that final Friday night at Tiger Stadium, he was staked to a 3-0 lead when Manuel Lee - of all people - reached Doyle Alexander for a three run HR in the second inning. The Tigers got two back in their half on a Mulliniks error and a Lusader homer. Then in the third, Trammell led off with a HR to tied the game at 3-3. Clancy walked Darrell Evans, and Jimy Williams came out with the hook. David Wells pitched six scoreless innings of relief, but he did allow that inherited runner to score the go-ahead run, and there were no more runs scored that evening.
And in 1988, he just went bad. In early July, after making 18 starts, his record was 4-11, 5.52, and Jimy WIlliams sent him to the bullpen. But it turned out that Todd Stottlemyre wasn't quite ready yet, so Clancy returned to the rotation - and was his old self again. He went 7-2, 3.28 in 13 starts to close the year. Just in time to become a free agent.
He signed a three year deal with Houston, and I remember thinking at the time that he's going to love the Astrodome. After all those years at the old Ex, to pitch half his games in one of the greatest pitcher's parks ever? Bliss for any pitcher. And if I had known at the time how well he'd pitched at the Kingdome (5-1, 3.09) and the HubieDome (5-2, 3.14) I would have been even more confident. But no. He was simply not very good in the National League, and he was especially bad in the Astrodome. He went 7-14, 5.08, and was even worse in 1990. He was 2-8, 5.34 when the Astros sent him to the bullpen at the end of June, and he never started another game in the majors.
But he wasn't quite done - he pitched very well out of the Houston bullpen in 1991 and the Atlanta Braves traded .for him at the deadline. Bobby Cox, his old manager, had returned to the dugout the previous June and the Braves were in the process of going from 97 losses to 94 wins and a spot in the World Series. Clancy didn't pitch particularly well for the Braves, but he made the post-season roster. He pitched once against the Pirates in the NLCS, retiring Bobby Bonilla with a couple of runners on base in a tie game. In the World Series, he worked a couple of innings in the opening game, with the Braves down 4-1. The third game went to extras - Clancy relieved Kent Mercker with two out and a couple of men on the twelfth. He faced opposing pitcher Rick Aguilera, who was actually a pretty decent hitter. Clancy got the out, and picked up a World Series W when the Braves won it in the bottom half. Finally, he worked a couple of innings in Atlanta's blowout win in the fifth game.
