Work horse in the hazing years of the
Padres....a profile of youth, much like his team...dutifully took to the mound
with low probability of a victory....rookie year 1969 went 7-20; brutal but much worse pitchers do not get to
stay for 27 decisions....took claim to 10 games of 26 in 1970....that year one
game stands out in Padres lore, Kirby was pitching a no hitter into the 8th
inning, with Friars down 1 nil, Manager Preston Gomez takes Kirby out in favor
of a pinch hitter...no clutch hit and relief corps gave up hits and Padres to
this day do not have a no hit game....Kirby came close on a couple of more
occasion....1971 was Kirby’s best doing the formidable, a winning record with
15 wins and above .500 win/loss on a 100 loss club....continued to wallow in SD
futility two more years....1974: Hope for bigger and better thing came in the
form of a trade to Cincinnati, a top tier team....Kirby produces two winning
records 12-9 and 10-8, but his contribution was gradually put aside to the
point he was passed over in 1975 World Series....jettisoned to Montreal for
1976....a bout of pneumonia early in the season resulted in an utter disaster of a 1-8 record....released eventually did brief comeback attempts which fizzled
out....sadly died of a heart attack at the young age of 43.
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