Jim Clancy (baseball)

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James Clancy (born December 18, 1955 in Chicago, Illinois) is a former starting pitcher in Major League Baseball who played for the Toronto Blue Jays (1977-88), Houston Astros (1989-91) and Atlanta Braves (1991). He batted and threw right-handed and attended St. Rita of Cascia High School on the south side of Chicago.

Clancy made his debut in 1977 with the expansion Toronto Blue Jays, starting 13 games and struggling to a 4-9 record and 5.05 ERA. Over the next decade, however, Clancy established himself as a dependable starter who regularly posted 13 to 16 wins and a ERA below 4.00 each year. His best seasons include 1982, when he went 16-14 with a 3.71 ERA, and 1987, when he went 15-11 with a 3.54 ERA and 180 strikeouts, a career best. Clancy made the American League All-Star team in 1982.

Clancy signed as a free agent with the Houston Astros before the 1989 season but beginning then, and for the rest of his career, he was unable to demonstrate the consistency he had shown while playing for Toronto. After posting a 5.08 ERA with Houston, Clancy was relegated to mainly relief work in 1990 and 1991. He was traded at the trade deadline to the Atlanta Braves, for whom he appeared in his second postseason (after 1985 with Toronto) and first World Series that fall. Clancy pitched in three games and picked up a victory but the Braves lost to the Minnesota Twins four games to three.

Clancy signed as a free agent with the Chicago Cubs prior to the 1992 season but didn't play. Over his 15-season career, Clancy posted a 140-167 record with 1422 strikeouts and a 4.23 ERA.

[edit] External links

• Career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube