Player Profile: Tony Cloninger

diamondfans.com notes: Cloninger was a highly-touted signee for the Braves who had a decent if unspectacular career with the Braves, Reds, and Cardinals. In his prime during the mid Sixties he was one of the best pitchers in the National League, winning 57 games during the three year span from 1964-1966. His biggest claim to fame, however, was accomplished with the bat: Cloninger was the first National League player to hit two grand slam home runs in a single game, accomplishing the feat on July 3, 1966. (Unsurprisingly, he was also the winning pitcher in the game.) He remains the only pitcher to ever accomplish the feat in a Major League game.

During the 1967 season, at age 26, Cloninger suffered through a difficult season, enduring a shoulder injury and eye problems. He was never the same pitcher after that, but he did play on Cincinnati's first pennant winning team of the "Big Red Machine" era in 1970, winning nine games and saving one as a spot starter and long reliever.