 |
 |
Tony Lee Cloninger
Cincinnati Reds
Pitcher
Born: August 13, 1940, Lincoln County, NC
Signed: Signed by the Milwaukee Braves as an amateur free agent, May 23, 1958
Major League Teams: Milwaukee Braves 1961-65; Atlanta Braves 1966-68; Cincinnati Reds 1968-71; St. Louis Cardinals 1972
World Series Appearances: Cincinnati Reds 1970
Died: July 24, 2018, Denver, NC (age 77)
Tony Cloninger pitched in 12 big league seasons as one of the top strikeout pitchers of his day, and would go on to serve as a long-time pitching coach for the Yankees (1992-01) and Red Sox (2002-03). Cloninger won 19 games in 1964, but his career year came in 1965 when he went 24-11 with a 3.29 ERA and 211 strikeouts in 279 innings pitched. Effectively wild, he also led the league in wild pitches in 1965 and 1966 and his career tally of 119 wild pitches is currently 68th on the all-time list. A surprisingly solid batter, Cloninger clubbed two grand slams on July 3, 1966, driving in nine runs in total, and to date he is the only pitcher to hit two grand slams in the same game. After 7 1/2 seasons with the Braves, he was dealt to the Reds where he helped that team advance to the World Series in 1970. Cloninger was the losing pitcher in Game 3 and the Orioles would ultimately win the series in five games. He retired as a player following the 1972 season with a lifetime record of 113-97 in 352 games, with a 4.07 ERA and 1,120 strikeouts.
Died: July 24, 2018, Denver, NC (age 77)
Tony Cloninger pitched in 12 big league seasons as one of the top strikeout pitchers of his day, and would go on to serve as a long-time pitching coach for the Yankees (1992-01) and Red Sox (2002-03). Cloninger won 19 games in 1964, but his career year came in 1965 when he went 24-11 with a 3.29 ERA and 211 strikeouts in 279 innings pitched. Effectively wild, he also led the league in wild pitches in 1965 and 1966 and his career tally of 119 wild pitches is currently 68th on the all-time list. A surprisingly solid batter, Cloninger clubbed two grand slams on July 3, 1966, driving in nine runs in total, and to date he is the only pitcher to hit two grand slams in the same game. After 7 1/2 seasons with the Braves, he was dealt to the Reds where he helped that team advance to the World Series in 1970. Cloninger was the losing pitcher in Game 3 and the Orioles would ultimately win the series in five games. He retired as a player following the 1972 season with a lifetime record of 113-97 in 352 games, with a 4.07 ERA and 1,120 strikeouts.
Cloninger returned to baseball in 1988 as a minor league pitching coach for the Yankees and he'd join the Yankees' major league coaching staff in 1992. Under managers Buck Showalter and Joe Torre (#460), he was a member of five American League pennant winners and four World Series championship teams. After two seasons as a coach with the Red Sox, Cloninger was named a player development consultant in 2004 for the team, serving in that role for 15 years.
Some text for this post originally appeared on my 1965 Topps blog.
Building the Set / Card #430
December 3, 2023 from The Philly Show (Uncle Dick's Cards)
The Card / Reds Team Set / Accuracy Index -8
1969 Season
Cloninger struggled in his first full season with the Reds, going 11-17 with a 5.03 ERA in 35 games, including 34 starts. In those 17 losses, Cloninger had an unsightly 7.91 ERA. He did throw six complete games, including a pair of shutouts, and on September 15th he notched his 100th career win. Manager Dave Bristol (#234) kept going back to Cloninger throughout the season, and only Jim Merritt (#661), with 36 starts, was used more often.
Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card: 1962 Topps #63
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (10): 1962-72
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 1988 ProCards #1353
Total Non-Parallel Baseball Cards: 70 in the Beckett online database as of 12/1/24.
Sources:
Baseball Reference / SABR / Wikipedia
December 3, 2023 from The Philly Show (Uncle Dick's Cards)
Doug and I returned to The Philly Show in early December, once again held inside the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center in Oaks, Pennsylvania. eBay has taken over sponsorship of the show, with the quaint, bubble-lettered Philly Show logo that had been in place since the 1980s replaced with a more modern logo, keeping with the times. I wrote about the show in a post over at The Phillies Room.
Similar to my strategy from March, I wanted to focus on accumulating commons and having found success with Uncle Dick's Cards before, I didn't mess around and headed right for the neon green binders. I pulled 145 cards from the binder containing cards 301 to the end of the set, stopping when I reached 500. This card was the 138th of 145 cards purchased for our set, and after the dealer discount due to my bulk purchase, it cost a little less than a dollar.
The Card / Reds Team Set / Accuracy Index -8
Topps dug into its archives for the photo used here, as it dates way back to at least 1962. A photo from the same session is used on Cloninger's 1963 Topps card, and here's wearing a Milwaukee Braves' jersey. The write-up on the back highlights his two grand slam game from 1966. It also references the six-player deal between the Reds and Braves on July 11, 1968. The Reds received Cloninger, Clay Carroll (#26) and Woody Woodward (#142), with Ted Davidson, Bob Johnson (#261) and Milt Pappas (#79) going to the Braves.
Accuracy Index: Cloninger is wearing an old Braves jersey (-5) and is hatless (-3).
1969 Season
Cloninger struggled in his first full season with the Reds, going 11-17 with a 5.03 ERA in 35 games, including 34 starts. In those 17 losses, Cloninger had an unsightly 7.91 ERA. He did throw six complete games, including a pair of shutouts, and on September 15th he notched his 100th career win. Manager Dave Bristol (#234) kept going back to Cloninger throughout the season, and only Jim Merritt (#661), with 36 starts, was used more often.
|
|
|
|
|
First Mainstream Card: 1962 Topps #63
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (10): 1962-72
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 1988 ProCards #1353
Total Non-Parallel Baseball Cards: 70 in the Beckett online database as of 12/1/24.
Sources:
Baseball Reference / SABR / Wikipedia
Beckett Database / The Trading Card Database
1965 Topps Blog
1965 Topps Blog
#491 Twins Rookie Stars / #493 Wes Parker - Los Angeles Dodgers
1967 was my introduction to baseball card collecting and major-league baseball in general. (Before that season, the only players I’d ever heard of were Mickey Mantle, Roger Maris, Yogi Berra, and Harmon Killebrew.) My knowledge of players (even my hometown Phillies) began in May 1967, with my growing collection of baseball cards.
ReplyDeleteSometime during the season, I must have heard Tony Cloninger’s name mentioned on the radio during Phillies vs. Braves games, and thought he was the same person as who appeared on Tony Conigliaro’s baseball card. Only after I got Cloninger’s card later in the season did I realize they were 2 different people.