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Jimmy Key is the only baseball player in Clemson history to be first-team All-ACC at two positions in the same season. He played three seasons on the diamond in Tigertown, then went on to a successful 15-year Major League career, including two World Series Championship seasons.
James Edward Key was a standout at Butler High School in Huntsville, AL. The lefthander was 10-0 with nine shutouts and a 0.30 ERA his senior season. He also hit .410 along with 11 homers and 35 RBIs.
"Gene Compton, a former Clemson player who was living in Huntsville, kept telling me about this lefthander that I had to see," recalls former Tiger Head Coach Bill Wilhelm. "He was being heavily recruited by all the schools, so I made the trip to Birmingham to watch him pitch in the state quarterfinal game in front of 4,000 people. He struck out 19 batters in 11 innings and won 1-0. I was so impressed that I went up to him after the game and offered him a full scholarship. Without any hesitation and ever seeing Clemson, he said, 'I'll take it.' He was certainly one of the easiest to recruit."
In Key's freshman season, he led Clemson in starts (15) and innings pitched (111.1). He started in the opening game of the 1980 College World Series and finished the season 7-5 with a 2.99 ERA. It became evident that season how effective Key would be at getting batters out without overpowering pitches. He struck out just 52 batters, but at the same time allowed just 85 hits.
Key impressed with his bat his sophomore season, hitting .317 in 167 at bats, but he was just 4-6 on the mound.
He turned things around his junior season, putting together perhaps the greatest all-around season in Clemson history and garnering All-ACC honors as both a pitcher and designated hitter. He had an ACC-best nine wins to go along with seven complete games in 116.0 innings pitched. At the plate, Key hit a team-best .359 with a then-school record 21 doubles.
Key went on to play 15 seasons (1984-98) in the Majors, including nine with Toronto, four with New York (Yankees), and two with Baltimore. He accumulated a 186-117 record along with a 3.51 ERA. He won at least 12 games in the 12 seasons in which he started at least 12 games. Key was also a four-time All-Star and is the only former Tiger to play on two World Series Championship teams (Blue Jays in '92 and Yankees in '96). In the '92 series, he allowed just two runs while earning two victories, including the clinching game-six win. Key, who wore a Clemson T-shirt underneath his uniform for good luck, even got his teammates to wear the Tiger T-shirt.
Key and his wife, Karin, reside in North Salem, NY
