Cla Meredith

Olise Claiborne "Cla" Meredith (nicknamed "The Claw") is a Major League Baseball Pitcher for the Baltimore Orioles. He was born on June 4, 1983 in Richmond, Virginia. He is right-handed, and is known for his unusual, sidearm delivery. He did not begin throwing sidearm full-time until he was a sophomore in college.

He played baseball at Virginia Commonwealth University, where he was a successful reliever. For instance, in 2003, he went 6-0 with a 1.19 ERA for VCU.

He was drafted by Boston Red Sox in 6th round (185th overall) of the 2004 draft following his junior season at VCU.

He made his Major League debut on May 8, 2005 with the Red Sox, less than a year after being drafted. He only pitched in 3 games in 2005 for the Red Sox, and finished with an ERA of 27.00. On May 1, 2006, he was traded to the San Diego Padres in a 3 player deal that sent Cla Meredith and Josh Bard to San Diego in exchange for Doug Mirabelli.

In 2006, at the age of 22, he had one of the greatest seasons of any reliever in Major League history. Over 45 appearances and 50.3 innings pitched, he had a 1.07 ERA, which the best in the National League. In addition, he had a 33.2 scoreless innings streak, which was the longest in franchise history.

Meredith pitched for several more seasons in San Diego, although he did not nearly as effective as he had been in 2006. He was traded to the Baltimore Orioles on July 19, 2009, for Oscar Salazar. On December 19, 2009, he avoided arbitration and signed a 1 year contract with the Orioles. http://espndb.go.com/mlb/players/gamelog?playerId=6269&year=2009<ref> <ref>http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/m/meredcl01.shtml<ref>

Cla Meredith will spend his first full season with the Baltimore Orioles in 2010. When he was acquired by the Orioles in July of 2009, he was described by Orioles General Manager Andy MacPhail as a "poor man's Chad Bradford." He went 4-2 with a 4.17 ERA and 36.2 innings when he was with San Diego, and 0-0 with a 3.77 ERA over 28.2 innings pitched.

He finished up 2009 on a very strong note, with a 1.17 ERA in September 7.2 innings and did not allow a run over his 2 October appearances. His strong pitching followed a 6.60 ERA in August.

He was not assured of a spot on the 2010 Baltimore Orioles roster, and he needed a good Spring Training in order to make the team. He pitched well, not allowing a baserunner over his first 6 innings.

In 2010, through the Orioles first 3 games, he has made one appearance, giving up 1 earned run over 2/3 of an inning for an ERA of 13.50.

As of April 8, 2010, he is 14-12 with a 3.55 ERA over 266 career appearances (with no starts or saves) and 269.1 innings pitched. http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/m/meredcl01.shtml<ref> <ref>http://espndb.go.com/mlb/players/profile?playerId=6269<ref> <ref>http://voices.washingtonpost.com/baseball-insider/2009/07/os_trade_salazar_for_meredith.html<ref>