Joseph Christopher Cleary (December 3, 1918 – June 3, 2004), nicknamed "Fire", was a Major League Baseball pitcher for one game in 1945.

The right-hander was born in Cork, and he was the last native of Ireland to appear in a major league game until P. J. Conlon debuted for the New York Mets on May 7, 2018.

[3] Joe Cleary was born in 1918 in Cork, Ireland and moved to the Upper West Side of New York City in 1928.

Cleary attended Commerce High School where he played baseball, once headlining The New York Times.

Later, while still enrolled at Commerce, Cleary played on various semi-professional teams in Brooklyn in order to supplement his father's income.