Arthur Hamilton "Dad" Clarkson (August 31, 1866 – February 5, 1911) was a

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

from 1891 to 1896. He played for the

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. ...

Boston Beaneaters Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- most po ...

St. Louis Browns The St. Louis Browns were a Major League Baseball team that originated in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, as the Milwaukee Brewers. A charter member of the American League (AL), the Brewers moved to St. Louis, Missouri, after the 1901 season, where they ...

, and

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East division. As one of the American L ...

Biography

Clarkson was born in

Cambridge, Massachusetts Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. As part of the Boston metropolitan area, the cities population of the 2020 U.S. census was 118,403, making it the fourth most populous city in the state, behind Boston, ...

, and starred on the

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

baseball team in the 1880s. He started his professional baseball career in 1891 with the New York Giants; however, he did not pitch much over the next two seasons. In 1893, Clarkson broke out with the St. Louis Browns, going 12–9 with a 3.48

earned run average In baseball statistics, earned run average (ERA) is the average of earned runs allowed by a pitcher per nine innings pitched (i.e. the traditional length of a game). It is determined by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the number ...

. He was the only pitcher on the team to have a winning record. Clarkson received more innings of work in 1894 but slumped badly and posted a 6.36 ERA. In 1895, he started off even worse. He was 1–6 with a 7.38 ERA when the Browns traded him to the Orioles in June. Clarkson immediately turned things around in Baltimore. In his 14 remaining starts that season, he pitched 10

complete game In baseball, a complete game (CG) is the act of a pitcher pitching an entire game without the benefit of a relief pitcher. A pitcher who meets this criterion will be credited with a complete game regardless of the number of innings played—pitche ...

s and won 12 of 15 decisions."Dad Clarkson Statistics and History"
''baseball-reference.com''. Retrieved 2010-11-20. The Orioles won the

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team s ...

pennant. The following season, Clarkson was outpitched by the other members of Baltimore's staff, and he played his final major league game on August 8. His career MLB record was 39–39. In 1900, he is recorded as being on a Montana State League roster. Clarkson served as a fill-in umpire several times between 1893 and 1896. On July 29, 1893, Clarkson umpired a game that his Cardinals lost to the Cleveland Spiders. He was fined by Cardinals owner Chris von der Ahe for making calls that went against the team. In protest of the fine, Clarkson refused to make his scheduled August 1 start as a pitcher. As a result, outfielder

Jimmy Bannon James Henry "Foxy Grandpa" Bannon (May 5, 1871 – March 24, 1948) was an American Major League Baseball player for the St. Louis Browns and Boston Beaneaters. Bannon was primarily an outfielder, though he played a few games as an infielder an ...

had to pitch. Bannon, a hitter, gave up 15 runs in four innings on the way to a 25-2 loss. Bannon was released by the Cardinals. Dad Clarkson had two brothers who also played in Major League Baseball: Hall of Famer

John Clarkson John Gibson Clarkson (July 1, 1861 – February 4, 1909) was a Major League Baseball right-handed pitcher. He played from 1882 to 1894. Born in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Clarkson played for the Worcester Ruby Legs (1882), Chicago White Stocking ...

and

Walter Clarkson Walter Hamilton Clarkson (November 3, 1878 – October 10, 1946) was a pitcher in Major League Baseball. He played for the New York Highlanders from 1904 to 1907 and the Cleveland Naps from 1907 to 1908. Clarkson attended Harvard University, ...

. After his baseball days were over, he became a salesman."The Players Speak: Heading Home"
''thedeadballera.com''. Retrieved 2010-11-20. He died in 1911, at the age of 44.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Clarkson, Dad 1866 births 1911 deaths Major League Baseball pitchers New York Giants (NL) players Boston Beaneaters players St. Louis Browns players Baltimore Orioles (NL) players Anaconda Serpents players 19th-century baseball players Baseball players from Massachusetts Sportspeople from Cambridge, Massachusetts Chicago Maroons players