Ken Clay, who pitched on Yankees' world championship teams in 1977-78, dies at age 71

Ken Clay, who won World Series championships with the New York Yankees in 1977-78 to highlight his five-year major league career, has died at the age of 71.

Dr. Jim Warner, executive medical director for the Centra Heart & Vascular Institute in Lynchburg, Virginia, notified the Yankees on Sunday that Clay died Thursday at home in Lynchburg. Warner said Clay's cause of death was heart and kidney issues.

A reliever for most of his career, Clay made his major league debut in June 1977 and appeared in two games in the World Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers. In 1978, also against the Dodgers, he gave up a three-run homer to Davey Lopes in Game 1 in his only appearance.

His best postseason outing came in the opener of the 1978 American League Championship Series against Kansas City. The Yankees led 4-0 when Clay entered with one out and the bases loaded in the sixth inning. Clay pitched 3 2/3 scoreless innings and earned the save in a 7-1 win.

Clay was 1-7 in 1979 and finished the season in the minors. He was still in the minors when the Yankees traded him to the Texas Rangers for Gaylord Perry the next year. He made eight starts for the Rangers in 1980, going 2-3, and was traded to the Seattle Mariners after the season. The Mariners released him in spring training in 1982.

Clay made 111 appearances in the majors in his career, including 36 starts, and was 10-24 with three saves and a 4.68 ERA.

As Clay struggled in 1979, Yankees owner George Steinbrenner criticized him for underachieving, famously calling him a “morning glory,” a reference to racehorses that turn in excellent morning workouts but don't perform well in races.

Clay also had a run of legal issues. In 1987, he pleaded guilty in Virginia to stealing more than $16,000 from a ring distributor he worked for after his baseball career ended. In 1992, he was sentenced to one year in a Virginia jail for stealing $550 from the car dealership where he worked. In 2001, he pleaded guilty to forgery and other charges in Florida and agreed to repay more than $40,000 to creditors for using an ex-girlfriend’s personal information to defraud three credit card companies.

This story has been corrected to show that the last name of the executive medical director for the Centra Heart & Vascular Institute is Jim Warner, not Warren.

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FILE - Yankees' Reggie Jackson, center, who hit a three-run home run, and Ken Clay, who pitched more than three innings without giving up a hit, congratulate each other as New York won the American League playoff opener over Kansas City, Oct. 3, 1978, Kansas City, Mo. (AP Photo/Ray Stubblebine, file)

FILE - Yankee pitcher Ken Clay smiles in the dressing room after a Yankee victory over Kansas City in the American League championship opener, Oct. 3, 1978, Kansas City, Mo. (AP Photo/John Storey, file)

PARIS (AP) — French authorities are investigating a suspected link to Iran after thwarting a bomb attack outside a Bank of America building in Paris, the interior minister said Monday. Five people are in custody.

Authorities suspect a link due to similarities with other recent attempted attacks in Europe for which a pro-Iran group claimed responsibility, Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said.

On Saturday morning, Paris police officers spotted two suspects carrying a shopping bag near the Bank of America office in the 8th arrondissement of the French capital. The national anti-terrorism prosecutor’s office is looking into alleged terrorism-related offenses.

The “modus operandi is in every respect similar to actions that have been carried out in the Netherlands and in Belgium,” Nuñez said on French radio RTL. In those cases, there were claims by a pro-Iranian group that “linked them to the conflict” in the Middle-East.

The group, known on Telegram as Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamia, which translates as the Islamic Movement of the Companions of the Right, also claimed responsibility for an attack last week in London, where four ambulances belonging to a Jewish charity were set on fire.

“Typically, intelligence services of this country (Iran) operate in this way: They use proxies, a series of subcontractors, often common criminals, to carry out highly targeted actions aimed at U.S. interests, the interests of the Jewish community, or Iranian opposition figures,” Nuñez said.

Nuñez said French authorities have stepped up security around key personalities and sites since the United States and Israel launched their war against Iran on Feb. 28, including personal protection for some people from the Iranian opposition.

Bank of America spokesperson Bill Halldin told The Associated Press the bank is ‘’communicating with the French authorities'' about the investigation. He did not elaborate.

The bank has hundreds of employees in France. Staff returned to work Monday at the targeted office, which is about 600 meters (yards) from the French presidential palace.

Police stand outside the Bank of America building in Paris, Saturday, March 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Nicolas Garriga)

Police stand outside the Bank of America building in Paris, Saturday, March 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Nicolas Garriga)