Tony Cloninger

Born: 8/13/1940 in Lincoln County, NC, USA

Died: 7/24/2018 in Denver, NC, USA

MLB Debut: 1961-06-15 | Final Game: 1972-07-22

Bats: R | Throws: R | Height: 6'0" | Weight: 210 lbs

Full name: Tony Lee Cloninger

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Biography

Tony Cloninger was a professional baseball pitcher who played in Major League Baseball from 1961 to 1972. Born in 1940, Cloninger made his debut with the Milwaukee Braves and later played for the Atlanta Braves and the San Francisco Giants. Over his career, he achieved a win-loss record of 113-97 and posted an earned run average (ERA) of 4.07. Cloninger was known for his durability and competitiveness on the mound, accumulating a total of 1,120 strikeouts and securing 6 saves during his time in the league. Cloninger's career unfolded during a transformative period in baseball, marked by the transition from the deadball era to a more offense-oriented game. He was particularly notable for his contributions to the Braves during the 1960s, and he remains one of the few pitchers in MLB history to hit two grand slams in a single game, showcasing his unique dual-threat ability as both a pitcher and a hitter. His legacy in the game is characterized by his skillful pitching and his place in the history of the Braves franchise.

Career Pitching Statistics

W	L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	IP	H	ER	HR	BB	SO	ERA	Pitcher PIV
113	97	352	247	63	13	6	1767.7	1643	799	180	798	1120	4.07	0

Career ERA 4.07 vs. league average 3.54 across their career seasons — 14.8% worse than league average.

Season-by-Season Pitching

Year	Team	Lg	W	L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA	Lg ERA	Pitcher PIV
1961	ATL	NL	7	2	19	10	3	0	0	84.0	84	49	33	51	5.25	4.03 (-30%)	-
1962	ATL	NL	8	3	24	15	4	1	0	111.0	113	53	46	69	4.30	3.96 (-9%)	-
1963	ATL	NL	9	11	41	18	4	2	1	145.3	131	61	63	100	3.78	3.46 (-9%)	-
1964	ATL	NL	19	14	38	34	15	3	2	242.7	206	96	82	163	3.56	3.58 (+1%)	-
1965	ATL	NL	24	11	40	38	16	1	1	279.0	247	102	119	211	3.29	3.50 (+6%)	-
1966	ATL	NL	14	11	39	38	11	1	1	257.7	253	118	116	178	4.12	3.52 (-17%)	-3635.5
1967	ATL	NL	4	7	16	16	1	0	0	76.7	85	44	31	55	5.17	3.30 (-56%)	-2371.7
1968	ATL	NL	1	3	8	1	0	0	0	19.0	15	9	11	7	4.26	2.98 (-43%)	-192.2
1968	CIN	NL	4	3	17	17	2	2	0	91.3	81	41	48	65	4.04	2.98 (-35%)	-1514.9
1969	CIN	NL	11	17	35	34	6	2	0	189.7	184	106	103	103	5.03	3.61 (-39%)	-5729.2
1970	CIN	NL	9	7	30	18	0	0	1	148.0	136	63	78	56	3.83	3.89 (+1%)	-2044.8
1971	CIN	NL	3	6	28	8	1	1	0	97.3	79	42	49	51	3.88	3.47 (-12%)	-2906.0
1972	STL	NL	0	2	17	0	0	0	0	26.0	29	15	19	11	5.19	3.26 (-59%)	-

Career Batting Statistics

G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	BB	SO	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS	PIV
366	621	65	119	16	2	11	67	2	9	161	0.192	0.205	0.277	0.482	-1675.3

Career AVG .192 vs. league average .248 across their career seasons — 22.9% below league average.

Career OBP .205 vs. league average .315 across their career seasons — 34.9% below league average.

Career SLG .277 vs. league average .372 across their career seasons — 25.4% below league average.

Career OPS 0.482 vs. league average 0.686 across their career seasons — 29.8% below league average.

Season-by-Season Batting

Year	Team	Lg	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	BB	SO	AVG	Lg AVG	Lg OBP	Lg SLG	Lg OPS	PIV
1961	ATL	NL	19	30	4	5	0	0	0	4	0	1	6	0.167	—	—	—	—	0.0
1962	ATL	NL	24	39	1	4	1	0	0	3	0	0	9	0.103	—	—	—	—	0.0
1963	ATL	NL	41	37	2	5	0	0	0	1	0	1	8	0.135	—	—	—	—	0.0
1964	ATL	NL	38	87	9	21	0	0	0	7	0	0	20	0.241	.250 (-4%)	.312 (-23%)	.377 (-36%)	.690 (-30%)	-423.1
1965	ATL	NL	41	105	12	17	3	2	1	8	0	0	25	0.162	.245 (-34%)	.310 (-49%)	.371 (-31%)	.682 (-39%)	-728.9
1966	ATL	NL	47	111	12	26	5	0	5	23	1	2	22	0.234	.248 (-6%)	.309 (-16%)	.376 (+10%)	.685 (-2%)	-61.5
1967	ATL	NL	16	25	1	5	1	0	0	4	0	1	10	0.200	—	—	—	—	0.0
1968	ATL	NL	8	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1968	CIN	NL	21	34	6	7	2	0	2	8	0	1	5	0.206	—	—	—	—	0.0
1969	CIN	NL	36	72	10	12	1	0	1	5	1	3	26	0.167	.248 (-33%)	.320 (-38%)	.369 (-40%)	.689 (-39%)	-461.8
1970	CIN	NL	30	47	7	10	2	0	2	3	0	0	16	0.213	—	—	—	—	0.0
1971	CIN	NL	28	27	1	7	1	0	0	1	0	0	10	0.259	—	—	—	—	0.0
1972	STL	NL	17	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0.000	—	—	—	—	0.0

Postseason Statistics

Playoff Career Batting

G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	AVG
3	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0.000

Playoff Batting by Year

Year	Round	Team	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	AVG
1970	NLCS	CIN	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0.000
1970	WS	CIN	2	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0.000

Playoff Career Pitching

W	L	G	GS	SV	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA
0	1	3	2	0	12.3	17	8	9	5	5.84

Playoff Pitching by Year

Year	Round	Team	W	L	G	GS	SV	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA
1970	NLCS	CIN	0	0	1	1	0	5.0	7	2	4	1	3.60
1970	WS	CIN	0	1	2	1	0	7.3	10	6	5	4	7.36

Fielding Statistics

Career Fielding Totals by Position

Position	G	GS	PO	A	E	DP
P	352	247	114	279	26	20

Season-by-Season Fielding

Year	Team	Pos	G	GS	PO	A	E	DP
1961	ML1	P	19	10	11	16	0	0
1962	ML1	P	24	15	10	18	1	3
1963	ML1	P	41	18	8	17	1	0
1964	ML1	P	38	34	14	41	2	1
1965	ML1	P	40	38	15	41	6	2
1966	ATL	P	39	38	14	43	8	1
1967	ATL	P	16	16	3	11	0	1
1968	ATL	P	8	1	1	4	0	0
1968	CIN	P	17	17	11	11	1	0
1969	CIN	P	35	34	9	23	3	3
1970	CIN	P	30	18	13	31	2	5
1971	CIN	P	28	8	4	16	2	3
1972	SLN	P	17	0	1	7	0	1