The Atlanta Braves Tony Lee Cloninger (August 13, 1940 – July 24, 2018) was a professional baseball player and coach from the United States. From 1961 to 1972, he was a right-handed pitcher for the Milwaukee/Atlanta Braves, Cincinnati Reds, and St. Louis Cardinals in Major League Baseball. He played college ball at Georgia Tech before being drafted by the Braves in the first round of the 1962 MLB draft. He made his major league debut on April 17, 1967, against the Chicago Cubs at Busch Stadium. In that game, he went 8 innings while giving up just one run on four hits with two walks and eight strikeouts. The Braves lost 1-0. In 1968, his only full season as a major leaguer, he went 20-12 with a 3.32 ERA and finished second in NL Rookie of the Year voting to Denny McLain. After losing 19 games over the next two seasons, he returned to form in 1971 with a 14-6 record and 3.42 ERA. That year, he finished third in MVP voting behind Billy Williams and Johnny Bench. After spending most of the 1972 season struggling with injuries, he retired after the season ended. He returned for one final season in 1973 with the Cardinals, who had acquired him during the 1972 season, finishing with an 8-10 record and 4.02 ERA in 29 appearances (24 starts).