Blue Jays great Clancy dead at 69

Longtime Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Jim Clancy has died at the age of 69, the team announced on Monday.

A native of Chicago, the right-handed Clancy was a member of the inaugural Blue Jays team and went on to play the first 12 seasons of his 15-year career with the club.

"His impact on our organization will be remembered forever," the team said in a statement. "Our hearts go out to his family and friends during this difficult time."

Clancy is second all-time in team history in starts, inning pitched and complete games. He is third all-time in Blue Jays history in wins with 128, trailing only Dave Stieb (175) and Hall of Famer Roy Halladay (148). His 24.8 WAR is fifth all-time among Jays hurlers and his 352 games played is eighth all-time among Jays pitchers.

Originally taken by the Jays from the Texas Rangers with the sixth pick of the 1976 Expansion Draft, Clancy would make his big league debut in 1977 and spent his first full season in the majors in 1978.

Clancy received an American League All-Star nod in 1982 when he went 16-14 with an earned run average of 3.71 and a WHIP of 1.230 over 266.2 innings pitched across 40 starts.

After leaving the Jays following the 1988 season, Clancy would go on to spend two-plus seasons with the Houston Astros before finishing his career in 1991 with the Atlanta Braves.

For his career, Clancy was 140-167 with a 4.23 ERA and WHIP of 1.374. He struck out 1,422 batters and walked 947.