Clay, Klaus, Klesko

Clayton Laws Kirby, Jr was one of the original Padres who had the distinction of losing 20 games in 1969.  He played for the Padres through 1973 when he was traded to the Reds for Bobby Tolan and Dave Tomlin.  Clay was part of the Big Red Machine that won the 1975 World Series, then he was traded to the Expos for the 1976 season.  Then he retired and unfortunately died in 1991 at the age of just 43.  I got the card off of ebay.  Robert Francis Klaus never played for the Padres as a matter of fact he had played his final major league game 4 years before the Padres ever even played a major league game.  Bobby was chosen from the Phillies in the 1968 Rule 5 draft.  He played for the Reds and Mets in 215 games in 1964 and 1965.  Then he played in the minors until 1969, he played for the Padres from 1962-1968 when they were a AAA affiliate of the Reds.  I got the card signed through the mail a few years ago.  Ryan Anthony Klesko was always a very good signer when he was with the Padres, through the mail anyway.  I didn't realize that Ryan had played so long in the majors and for so few teams, he played 8 years for the Braves, 7 for the Padres and one for San Francisco.  Ryan retired after the 2007 season, I saw a interview with him on Gaslamp Baseball the other day and he seems to be doing well.