Kristin Denehy wanted one gift for her birthday, June 17. She asked her father to call and leave a voicemail, telling the story of the day she arrived, as only he could. She wanted that story to hold onto forever.
“In 1973, I was pitching for the Bristol Red Sox,” Bill Denehy‘s recording began. “I was in the bullpen between innings, they were giving some scores of major-league games, the Mets, Yankees, Red Sox, and all of a sudden the announcer said, ‘Bill Denehy, please report to the hospital. Your wife is having a baby!. … And several hours later, you popped out.”
Baseball Bill, as his friends in Orlando, Fla., called him, had stories. He came out of Woodrow Wilson High in Middletown throwing pure fire, shared a rookie card, and a famous movie scene, with Tom Seaver and was traded for a manager. He was called into games by Ted Williams and Billy Martin, on occasion starting fights at Martin’s behest, and he coached Hall of Famer Jeff Bagwell at UHart. With perfect timing, a self-effacing delivery made for banquets, only Denehy could tell them just right.
He was, you might say, Connecticut’s Bob Uecker.
Bill Denehy, 79, died at his home in Orlando on June 27, as his daughters Kristin and Heather were preparing to travel to see him. His family chose to keep things quiet, private, before sharing the news this week.
“We gathered a few of his closest friends for a small luncheon to honor him,” Kristin said. “It felt right — simple, heartfelt, and surrounded by people who knew and loved him.”
There were many of those in Connecticut, too, where he was sometimes called “Wild Bill.” Denehy’s life wasn’t all laughter. He overcame alcohol and drug addiction, just before he died celebrated 34 years of sobriety, and he also helped others reclaim their lives. As he lost his eyesight, he fought for himself, and hundreds of other pre-1980 players to be included in MLB’s pension plan, a fight that’s ongoing. He did receive a small annual stipend for his major-league service, 1967-71.
But the joy of telling stories about his short, eventful career never left him. My last chat with him was in the days following Tom Seaver’s death in 2020.
“You know, when he got into the Hall of Fame, I asked the Mets for his address and sent out a card to him: ‘Congratulations on getting into the Hall of Fame. It’s about time you held up your side of the card.'” Denehy said.
The Card, Topps’ 1967 Mets Rookie Stars, is one of the most desired among baseball card collectors. Tom Seaver is on the right, Bill Denehy, who’d signed with the Mets in 1964 for $20,000, on the left. They became good friends in the minor leagues, and both made the Mets’ rotation that spring, after they both pitched in an exhibition game vs. Kansas City on March 25. “Denehy, the 6-foot-3 strapper from Middletown, Conn., throws harder,” wrote Dick Young for the New York Daily News. “He hums it. Seaver has a live fastball, but his strength is spotting the ball low.”
They combined for 312 big-league victories, 311 by Seaver. Both struck out eight in their major league debuts, a Mets record that lasted until Matt Harvey broke it in his debut 2012. When the movie, “The Odd Couple” was filmed at Shea Stadium in the summer of 1967, the director wanted Mets players to stay in the dugout following the staged game-ending triple play. Denehy thought that was silly and, if you watch very closely, you’ll see two ant-like figures run out waving their arms. Seaver and Denehy, class cut-ups.
He got one win before injuring his shoulder throwing a slider to Willie Mays, and never got another. After the ’68 season, the Mets sent Denehy to the Washington Senators for the rights to hire their next manager, Gil Hodges, who guided them to victory in the 1969 World Series. Denehy pitched a couple of games for Washington, where Ted Williams replaced Hodges.
On to Detroit. Denehy had a couple of hilarious versions of what happened at Fenway Park on Aug. 9, 1971, but retrosheet.com indicates Red Sox pitcher Jim Lonborg hit two batters, then Martin called Denehy into the game. He plunked Reggie Smith, touching off a brawl with a large group of family and friends up from Middletown. Earlier, he’d hit Cleveland’s Ray Fosse, who also charged the mound.
Denehy threw his last major-league pitch at age 25, his last as a professional for the Red Sox’s Double A affiliate in Bristol at age 27, then became a minor-league pitching coach and the head coach at UHart. Always, “Baseball Bill” had stories, he loved to tell them and anyone in earshot loved listening. I can only imagine Uecker, who died earlier this year, and Denehy up there trying to top each other this morning.
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Bill Denehy leaves daughters Kristin and Heather and grandchildren, Gwen and Lily Cameron, all of them are baseball fans.
“He always appreciated good storytelling,” said Kristin Denehy, who has had a long, successful career as a dancer, actress, model, choreographer, and voiceover artist. “… He was charismatic, handsome and full of stories that could light up a room.”
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UConn men readying for early tests
It’s not hard to pinpoint where the UConn men’s quest for a three-peat veered off course.
“For us, when you have championship aspirations, not being ready to go in Maui (in November), just that 0-3 and what that meant throughout the year, losing two of those three games to teams that weren’t in the tournament,” Hurley said. “Every game in college basketball has incredible meaning, because it’s a lot easier to advance in the tournament when you’re a better seed.”
UConn recovered from its losses to Memphis, Colorado and Dayton to get some quality wins, but were a No. 8 seed and had to play No.1 Florida, the eventual national champ, in the second round, where the Huskies lost.
This year UConn will be staying on the mainland, but really stacked the nonconference schedule, with BYU in Boston, Arizona and Texas at home, Kansas on the road, Florida and, though not yet official, Illinois at Madison Square Garden. That’s a minefield to navigate before Big East play starts. It’s designed to give UConn a chance for a No. 1 seed, but they’ll have to be ready for March Madness caliber opponents in November and December.
Hurley and his staff have been tweaking their summer preparation, with four hard weeks of practice, then two weeks off. The idea is to have the offensive and defensive plans installed, but have players refreshed. Exhibition games vs. Boston College and Michigan State also serve that purpose.
“We can’t afford, where we are today in our sport, to have optional summer workouts and have an assistant coach doing skill work with players,” Hurley said. “Our summers, we’re going hard, just to have a chance.”
Sunday short takes
*Former Husky Nick Ahmed called it a career this week after 12 big-league seasons, with the Diamondbacks, Giants, Dodgers, Padres and Rangers. He spent most of his career in Arizona, winning Gold Gloves at shortstop in 2018 and ’19. Of six future major-leaguers to play for UConn in 2010 and ’11, only George Springer, thriving at 35 in Toronto, remains.
*It’s certainly good news for the state that the Connecticut Sun are selling season tickets and say they will stay at Mohegan Sun for 2026. Me? I still think it’s inevitable they will relocate to Boston eventually, but I’d be delighted if I were proven wrong.
*Where would the Mets be if they didn’t re-sign Pete Alonso?
*Ryan Tattle’s last-second goal, lifting UConn over Quinnipiac in CT Ice back in January, and teammate Joey Muldowney’s goal vs. BU are in the running for Hockey East Play of the Year. You can vote on the league’s X account.
*Syl Sobel, who co-authored a book, “Boxed Out Of The NBA,” on the Eastern Basketball League of the 1950s and ’60s, including the Hartford Capitals, is working on a documentary on that early pro league. He’s looking for old footage of the Hartford team. If, by chance, you have some stashed in the attic, you can reach him through boxedoutfilm.com.
*MLB managers rarely, if ever, call out players publicly anymore. There are reasons for it: They are paid to build their players’ confidence, not tear it down and, if the organization does want to unload a player, it’s counterintuitive to rip him. If that’s what you’re looking for in the way of “accountability,” keep in mind that Joe Torre, Joe Girardi, Terry Francona never really did that, you shouldn’t expect the current Mets, Yankees or Red Sox managers to do it, either.
*UConn’s Christian Haynes, third-round pick in the ’24 NFL Draft, is getting reps at center and guard early in Seahawks camp. Seattle’s is going to a zone running scheme that could play to Haynes’ strengths.
*I work with an editor who gets really annoyed when I mention century-old ballplayers in this space, so I shan’t point out that three famous shortstops, Joe Tinker (1880), Leo Durocher (1905) and Alex Rodriguez (1975), were all born on Sunday’s date, July 27.
*Speaking of that Maui misadventure, Malachi Smith, who had nine points, three assists for Dayton, is now at UConn. Hurley referenced that game recently. “Mally was sitting up with a ‘Cheshire Cat smile,’ when I brought up the Dayton game,” Hurley said. “I won’t tell you what I said to fire back at him.”
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Last word
The Stars of Storrs games in The Basketball Tournament (TBT) were mostly fun to watch, though the FS1 and FS2 announcers tried a little too hard to sell the drama. The “Elam Ending,” a little quirky, grew on me, though you wouldn’t want to see that anywhere else. Not a lot of crowd shots on the telecasts, though. … Since this is the “Basketball Capital of the World,” the tournament would do well to put a regional in Connecticut, in Gampel, Hartford, Bridgeport or Mohegan Sun. People here would turn out. The Stars’ founder Mark D’Amelio wants it, somebody needs to make it happen next summer.
