Robert Alfred Clarke (January 8, 1903 – January 1971), nicknamed "Eggie", was an American
Negro league
The Negro leagues were United States professional baseball leagues comprising teams of African Americans and, to a lesser extent, Latin Americans. The term may be used broadly to include professional black teams outside the leagues and it may be ...
catcher
Catcher is a Baseball positions, position in baseball and softball. When a Batter (baseball), batter takes their at bat, turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the (home plate, home) Umpire (baseball), umpire, and recei ...
and
manager
Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business.
Management includes the activities o ...
from the 1920s through the 1940s.
A native of
Richmond, Virginia
(Thus do we reach the stars)
, image_map =
, mapsize = 250 px
, map_caption = Location within Virginia
, pushpin_map = Virginia#USA
, pushpin_label = Richmond
, pushpin_m ...
, Clarke made his Negro leagues debut in 1922 with the
Richmond Giants
The Richmond Giants were an independent semi-pro Negro league baseball team based in Richmond, Indiana that fielded a team in two different seasons. Though their existence was short, several Negro league stars played for the Giants, including Bill ...
. In 1923, he joined the
Baltimore Black Sox
The Baltimore Black Sox were a professional Negro league baseball team active between 1913 and 1936, based in Baltimore, Maryland.
Founding
The Black Sox started as an independent team in 1913 by Howard Young. They were one of the original six ...
, and played for the club through 1932. From 1933 to 1940, Clarke played for the
New York Black Yankees
The New York Black Yankees were a professional Negro league baseball team based in New York City; Paterson, New Jersey; and Rochester, New York. Beginning as the independent Harlem Stars, the team was renamed the New York Black Yankees in 1932 and ...
, serving as player-manager in 1936 and 1937, and being selected to the
East–West All-Star Game
The East–West All-Star Game was an annual all-star game for Negro league baseball players. The game was the brainchild of Gus Greenlee, owner of the Pittsburgh Crawfords. In 1933 he decided to emulate the Major League Baseball All-Star Game, usi ...
in 1940. He spent 1941 through 1946 with the
Baltimore Elite Giants
The Baltimore Elite Giants were a professional baseball team that played in the Negro league baseball, Negro leagues from to . The team was established by Tom Wilson (Negro baseball), Thomas T. Wilson, in Nashville, Tennessee as the semi-pro Nash ...
, and finished his career with a short return stint with the Black Yankees in 1948. Clarke died in