Former Major League Baseball pitcher Joey Jay, who debuted at just 17 years old in 1953 as a member of the first-year Milwaukee Braves, died Sept. 27 in his Florida home at age 89, according to an obituary in the New York Times. He was the last remaining living member of that first Milwaukee Braves team after it relocated from Boston, and he also held the distinction of the first Little League alumnus to appear in the big leagues.
The Connecticut native was signed out of high school for $40,000, still two months shy of his 18th birthday, and immediately brought to the big leagues on account of an MLB rule that stipulated players receiving large signing bonuses couldn't be sent to the minors for two years without first clearing waivers.