Horace Clarke
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Horace Meredith Clarke (June 2, 1939August 5, 2020) was an American Virgin Islander
baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding t ...
second baseman who played ten seasons in
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), ...
(MLB). He played for the
New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. They are one of ...
and the
San Diego Padres The San Diego Padres are an American professional baseball team based in San Diego. The Padres compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1969, the club has won two NL penn ...
from 1965 to 1974. He was a switch hitter who threw right-handed. Clarke was signed as an amateur free agent by the
New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. They are one of ...
in 1958 and played for seven of their minor league affiliates until 1965, when the Yankees promoted him to the major leagues. After spending seven more seasons with the organization, he was traded to the
San Diego Padres The San Diego Padres are an American professional baseball team based in San Diego. The Padres compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1969, the club has won two NL penn ...
in 1974. He played his last game on September 15 that year.


Early life

Clarke was born in
Frederiksted Frederiksted is both the town and one of the two administrative districts of St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands. It is a grid-planned city, designed by surveyor Jens Beckfor, originally to 14x14 blocks but built 7x7 to enhance the island commerce i ...
, on the island of
Saint Croix Saint Croix; nl, Sint-Kruis; french: link=no, Sainte-Croix; Danish and no, Sankt Croix, Taino: ''Ay Ay'' ( ) is an island in the Caribbean Sea, and a county and constituent district of the United States Virgin Islands (USVI), an unincor ...
in the
United States Virgin Islands The United States Virgin Islands,. Also called the ''American Virgin Islands'' and the ''U.S. Virgin Islands''. officially the Virgin Islands of the United States, are a group of Caribbean islands and an unincorporated and organized territory ...
, on June 2, 1939. He was the youngest of six children of Dennis and Vivian Woods Clarke. He had one brother (Verne) and four sisters (Dina, Holly, Annette, and Letty). He first played softball, since there were no Little Leagues in the territory at the time. He reportedly became a switch hitter because the field was oriented in a way that hitting from the right side would result in the
baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding t ...
landing in the ocean. He attended Christiansted High School. He was scouted by José "Pepe" Seda, who worked for the
New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. They are one of ...
, and was signed as an amateur free agent in January 1958.


Career

Clarke made his
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), ...
debut on May 13, 1965 against the
Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eigh ...
at
Fenway Park Fenway Park is a baseball stadium located in Boston, Massachusetts, United States, near Kenmore Square. Since 1912, it has been the home of the Boston Red Sox, the city's American League baseball team, and since 1953, its only Major League Bas ...
; he singled off
Dave Morehead David Michael Morehead (born September 5, 1942) is a former Major League Baseball pitcher. A right-hander, Morehead pitched for the Boston Red Sox (1963–68) and Kansas City Royals (1969–70). As a rookie in Morehead broke into the Red Sox st ...
in his first major league at bat. In his rookie season of 1966, Clarke, sharing
shortstop Shortstop, abbreviated SS, is the baseball or softball fielding position between second and third base, which is considered to be among the most demanding defensive positions. Historically the position was assigned to defensive specialists wh ...
duties with
Tom Tresh Thomas Michael Tresh (September 20, 1938 – October 15, 2008) was a professional baseball infielder and outfielder who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the New York Yankees (–) and Detroit Tigers (). Tresh was a switch-hitter and thre ...
after
Tony Kubek Anthony Christopher Kubek (born October 12, 1935) is an American former professional baseball player and television broadcaster. During his nine-year playing career with the New York Yankees, Kubek played in six World Series in the late 1950s an ...
's retirement before the start of the season, batted .266 with six
home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run i ...
s and 28
runs batted in A run batted in (RBI; plural RBIs ) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if the ba ...
(RBI). He became the Yankees' regular second baseman in 1967, upon the retirement of longtime veteran
Bobby Richardson Robert Clinton Richardson, Jr. (born August 19, 1935) is an American former professional baseball second baseman. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the New York Yankees from 1955 through 1966. Batting and throwing right-handed, he fo ...
. That year, he finished first among
American League The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western League, a minor league ...
(AL) second basemen in fielding percentage (.990). In the space of one month in 1970, he broke up three possible no-hitters in the ninth inning (
Jim Rooker James Phillip Rooker (born September 23, 1942) is a former Major League Baseball pitcher and broadcaster. A left-hander, Rooker pitched for the Detroit Tigers (1968), Kansas City Royals (1969–1973) and Pittsburgh Pirates (1974–1980). Early ...
on June 4,
Sonny Siebert Wilfred Charles "Sonny" Siebert (born January 14, 1937) is a former Major League Baseball right-handed pitcher from 1964 to 1975. He finished with a record of 140-114 and a 3.21 ERA. He threw a no-hitter on June 10, 1966, against the Washingto ...
on June 19 and,
Joe Niekro Joseph Franklin Niekro ( ; November 7, 1944 – October 27, 2006) was an American Major League Baseball right-handed pitcher. He was the younger brother of pitcher Phil Niekro, and the father of former Major League first baseman Lance Niekro. Niekr ...
on July 2). He and
Joe Mauer Joseph Patrick Mauer (born April 19, 1983) is an American former professional baseball catcher and first baseman, who spent his entire 15-year Major League Baseball (MLB) career with the Minnesota Twins. A six-time All-Star, Mauer is the only c ...
are the only hitters to break up three no-hit bids in the ninth inning. That season, Clarke made 732 plate appearances (batting 686 times officially). Clarke was sold to the
San Diego Padres The San Diego Padres are an American professional baseball team based in San Diego. The Padres compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1969, the club has won two NL penn ...
on May 31, 1974, for $25,000. He retired at the end of the 1974 season. Clarke finished his decade-long career with a .256
batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average is ...
, 27 home runs and 304 RBI. As one of the most well-known faces of the Yankees' teams from 1967 to 1973, that period in Yankees' history has been referred to as "The Horace Clarke Era." As a fielder, though, one major criticism of Clarke was that he would eschew turning the double play if the runner at second was approaching. Though it was rare for a baserunner to take him out with a
slide Slide or Slides may refer to: Places * Slide, California, former name of Fortuna, California Arts, entertainment, and media Music Albums * ''Slide'' (Lisa Germano album), 1998 * ''Slide'' (George Clanton album), 2018 *''Slide'', by Patrick Glees ...
, Clarke would often hold onto the baseball instead of throwing to first to complete the double play. This impression was obviously incorrect as Horace led the American League second basemen in turning double plays in 1969 and 1972. He finished in the AL top 5 in double plays from 1967 to 1973.He also led AL second basemen in putouts and assists from 1967 to 1972. Clarke also had a distinctive batting stance with his legs wide far apart.


Later life

After his retirement, Clarke worked as a baseball instructor for the
Virgin Islands The Virgin Islands ( es, Islas Vírgenes) are an archipelago in the Caribbean Sea. They are geologically and biogeographically the easternmost part of the Greater Antilles, the northern islands belonging to the Puerto Rico Trench and St. Cro ...
Department of Recreation and as an assistant scout for the Kansas City Royals. Both his sons – Jeff and Jason (J.D.) – went on to play in the minor leagues. Clarke died on August 5, 2020, at his home in
Laurel, Maryland Laurel is a city in Maryland, United States, located midway between Washington and Baltimore on the banks of the Patuxent River. While the city limits are entirely in northern Prince George's County, outlying developments extend into Anne Arunde ...
. He was 81, and suffered from complications of Alzheimer's disease.


References


Further reading

* Vecsey, George (1967
"Horace Clarke Bringing the Yankees Home"
''News York Newsday''. * McCarron, Anthony (April 17, 2010)
"Clarke Recalls His 'Era'"
''New York Daily News''. * Costello, Rory (January 4, 2012)
"Horace Clarke"
SABR The Society for American Baseball Research (SABR) is a membership organization dedicated to fostering the research and dissemination of the history and record of baseball primarily through the use of statistics. Established in Cooperstown, New ...
. * Staff (September 2018)
"Phebe Clarke 1943–2018"
''Battle Creek Enquirer''.


Sources


Baseball AlmanacHorace Clarke
- Baseball Biography {{DEFAULTSORT:Clarke, Horace 1939 births 2020 deaths Major League Baseball second basemen New York Yankees players San Diego Padres players Toledo Mud Hens players Kearney Yankees players St. Petersburg Saints players Binghamton Triplets players Richmond Virginians (minor league) players Fargo-Moorhead Twins players Amarillo Gold Sox players Major League Baseball players from the United States Virgin Islands African-American baseball players People from Saint Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands American people of United States Virgin Islands descent 20th-century African-American sportspeople 21st-century African-American people