Clayton Laws Kirby, Jr. (June 25, 1948 – October 11, 1991) was a Major League Baseball (MLB) pitcher for the San Diego Padres (1969–73), Cincinnati Reds (1974–75) and Montreal Expos (1976). Early life Clayton Laws "Clay" Kirby, Jr, was born in Washington, D.C. and attended Washington-Lee High School in Arlington, Virginia. He was drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals in the third round of the 1966 draft, however, in October 1968 he was chosen in the expansion draft by the Padres, who would begin play in 1969 along with the Expos. MLB He made his Major League debut at age 20 with the first-year Padres on April 11, 1969 as the Padres fell at home 8-0 to the San Francisco Giants. The first major league hitter he ever faced was Willie Mays, who walked, as Kirby gave up three earned runs in four innings. Although he led the National League in losses that year with 20 (against seven wins), he had a 3.80 earned run average in 35 starts with 215.1 innings pitched. Near no-hitter On July 21, 1970, Kirby was working on a no-hitter against the visiting New York Mets after eight innings, but trailed 1-0 as the Mets scored in the first inning after a walk to Tommie Agee. Agee stole second base. Bud Harrelson popped up to the shortstop. Then Kirby walked Ken Singleton and the Mets pulled off a double steal. Agee was now on third, Singleton was on second and Art Shamsky was the batter. He hit a ground ball to second baseman Ron Slocum, who threw him out as Agee scored. With two outs, Padres Manager Preston Gómez had Cito Gaston pinch-hit for Kirby in the bottom of the eighth, denying him a chance to complete the no-hitter. The 10,373 fans in attendance booed long and loud. Padres reliever Jack Baldschun then gave up two runs and three hits in the ninth. The Mets' Jim McAndrew had retired 15 batters in a row en route to what would be a three-hit, 3-0 victory for the Mets. According to Mets pitcher Tom Seaver. “The Mets bench just gasped in disbelief,” Seaver told sportswriter Joe Durso. "I personally would have let him (Kirby) hit. If the pennant race were involved, no. But in this situation, yes.” That season, Kirby posted a 10-16 record with a 4.53 ERA. The next two years Kirby had numbers of 15-13,