Bill Denehy

William Francis Denehy (March 31, 1946 – June 27, 2025) was an American professional baseball pitcher and coach. Denehy threw and batted right-handed, stood tall, and weighed . He was born in Middletown, Connecticut and attended Middletown Woodrow Wilson High School.

The second-ever Middletown Little League alumnus to play Major League Baseball, he signed with the New York Mets out of high school for a $20,000 bonus and made his professional debut with the Auburn Mets of the New York–Penn League (then Class A) in 1965. He led the league in wins with 13, and the following season won nine of 11 decisions with the Double-A Williamsport Mets of the Eastern League, compiling a stellar 1.97 earned run average. In 1967, Denehy made 15 Major League appearances for the Mets, dropping seven of eight decisions with an ERA of 4.67. The 1967 Mets finished in tenth and last place, the fifth cellar-dwelling team in the expansion club's six-year history.

From the start of the 1985 season until the middle of the 1987 season, Denehy was the head college baseball coach of the Hartford Hawks. Following an April 1987 game against UConn in which two bench-clearing brawls broke out, Denehy was fired for making inflammatory remarks made about Connecticut's team and Connecticut assistant coach Mitch Pietras. Under Denehy, the Hawks had a 17–79 record.

Retirement and death Denehy also worked in real estate, television and radio and taught golf. Denehy died on June 27, 2025, at the age of 79.