Melvin Earl Clark (July 7, 1924 – May 1, 2014) was an American professional baseball outfielder, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the

Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) National League East, East division. Since 2004, the team's home sta ...

(1951–1955) and

Detroit Tigers The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the American League (AL) Central division. One of the AL's eight charter franchises, the club was f ...

(1957), appearing in 215 big league

games A game is a structured form of play, usually undertaken for entertainment or fun, and sometimes used as an educational tool. Many games are also considered to be work (such as professional players of spectator sports or games) or art (such ...

. He threw and batted right-handed, stood tall, and weighed . Clark was born in Letart, West Virginia, graduated from

Wahama High School Wahama Junior/Senior High School is located in Mason, West Virginia, United States. It is the second-largest high school in the county. It is a part of Mason County Schools. The school was established in 1925, and its unusual name was derived f ...

, and — after World War II service in the

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in the United States Navy — attended Ohio University. Signed by the Phillies in 1947, he spent five years in their

farm system In sports, a farm team, farm system, feeder team, feeder club, or nursery club is generally a team or club whose role is to provide experience and training for young players, with an agreement that any successful players can move on to a higher ...

before his September 1951 end-of-season recall. Clark hit the ground running, collecting seven

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in his first 14 MLB at bats, including his first big-league home run, hit September 12 against

Howie Pollet Howard Joseph Pollet (June 26, 1921 – August 8, 1974) was an American left-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball during the 1940s and 1950s. A three-time All-Star in 1943, 1946 and 1949, he twice led the National League in earned run averag ...

of the

Pittsburgh Pirates The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Founded as part of the American Associati ...

.Retrosheet box score: September 12, 1951.
''retrosheet.org''. Retrosheet. Clark then spent all of , and as a spare outfielder on the Phillies' roster. He hit a robust .335 and .298 in his first two full years, but a knee injury suffered during 1953 took its toll on Clark's production. His batting average fell to .240 during 1954, then, in , he was sent down to Triple-A

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at the May cutdown when he could muster only a .156 batting average in ten games. The Phillies sent Clark to the Washington Senators in a July 1956 minor-league transaction; after a half-season at Triple-A, the Senators sold his contract to the Detroit Tigers, where in he batted seven times in five games before returning to the high minors for the final two seasons of his pro career. Over the course of his MLB career, Clark had 182 hits in 656 at bats, with 29 doubles, 15

triples TripleS (stylized as tripleS; Help:IPA/English, /ˈtɹɪpəl:ɛs/; ) is a South Korean girl group formed by MODHAUS. They aim to be the world's first decentralized K-pop idol group. The members will rotate between the group, sub-unit, and solo ac ...

, and three home runs.

References

External links

Mel Clark
at SABR (Baseball BioProject) * 1924 births 2014 deaths United States Navy personnel of World War II Appleton Papermakers players Baseball players from West Virginia Baton Rouge Red Sticks players Birmingham Barons players Charleston Senators players Detroit Tigers players Louisville Colonels (minor league) players Major League Baseball outfielders Miami Marlins (International League) players People from Letart, West Virginia Philadelphia Phillies players Philadelphia Phillies scouts Schenectady Blue Jays players Syracuse Chiefs players Terre Haute Phillies players Utica Blue Sox players Military personnel from West Virginia {{US-baseball-outfielder-1920s-stub