Clay Hensley Retires, Former Padres Pitcher

Former Padres’ hurler Clay Hensley. Mandatory Credit: houston.mlblogs.com.

Clay Hensley, a member of two division-winning Padres clubs, has announced his retirement from baseball, according to James Larken Smith of KFFE.  Hensley retired as a member of the Sugar Land Skeeters, an Independent league team in the Atlantic League.  He has not pitched in the major leagues since 2012.

The Skeeters honored Hensley’s time in baseball by allowing him to throw the first pitch of Sunday’s game, his last act as a player in professional baseball.

Hensley was a member of the San Diego Padres from 2005-2008, and also spent time with the Florida Marlins and San Francisco Giants.  Hensley was a key player in the Padres’ two most recent playoff seasons, as a rookie reliever in 2005, and as a member of the starting rotation in 2006.

In 2005, Hensley came up in July, and had immediate success in the bullpen, pitching 47.2 innings over 24 games with an outstanding ERA of 1.70.  He did not allow a home run in that time.

In 2006, he joined a Padres starting rotation that included Jake Peavy, Woody Williams, Chris Young, and Chan Ho Park. The 2006 Padres won the NL West with an 88-74 record.  Hensley went 11-12 for that squad, and his ERA of 3.71 was 10^th best in the NL among qualified pitchers.

In 2007, Hensley secured his place in the record books by allowing Barry Bonds’ 755^th homer, which tied Bonds for the all-time lead with Hank Aaron.

Hensley finished his major league career with a 28-34 record and 4.00 ERA.