Philip James Clark III (October 3, 1931 – September 14, 2018) was an American professional baseball player. The right-handed pitcher stood tall and weighed during his active career (1951; 1953–61). Born in Albany, Georgia, he attended Georgia Southern University and was a United States Navy veteran of the Korean War.Kimbrell-Stern Funeral Home obituary notice (2018)
/ref> Clark appeared in 14 games (all in relief) over two Major League seasons with the

1958 Events January * January 1 – The European Economic Community (EEC) comes into being. * January 3 – The West Indies Federation is formed. * January 4 ** Edmund Hillary's Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition completes the third ...

– 59 St. Louis Cardinals, dropping his only two decisions, allowing 19

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, issuing 11

bases on balls A base on balls (BB), also known as a walk, occurs in baseball when a batter receives four pitches that the umpire calls '' balls'', and is in turn awarded first base without the possibility of being called out. The base on balls is defined in Se ...

and striking out six in 14⅔

innings An innings is one of the divisions of a cricket match during which one team takes its turn to bat. Innings also means the period in which an individual player bats (acts as either striker or nonstriker). Innings, in cricket, and rounders, is bot ...

. He earned one save. However, he was a memorable and sympathetic figure in ''The Long Season'', the breakthrough memoir of the 1959 baseball season written by his teammate Jim Brosnan. Clark and his family were neighbors of the Brosnan family during

spring training Spring training is the preseason in Major League Baseball (MLB), a series of practices and exhibition games preceding the start of the regular season. Spring training allows new players to try out for Schedule (workplace), roster and position spo ...

St. Petersburg, Florida St. Petersburg is a city in Pinellas County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 258,308, making it the fifth-most populous city in Florida and the second-largest city in the Tampa Bay Area, after Tampa. It is the ...

, and the two pitchers became friends. While Brosnan was an established Major League pitcher, Clark was a fringe player constantly worried about being sent back to the

minor leagues Minor leagues are professional sports leagues which are not regarded as the premier leagues in those sports. Minor league teams tend to play in smaller, less elaborate venues, often competing in smaller cities/markets. This term is used in Nor ...

. As it turned out, both players were cast off by the Cardinals that season: Clark was sent to Triple-A

Omaha Omaha ( ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Nebraska and the county seat of Douglas County. Omaha is in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's 39th-largest city ...

at the May cutdown and later traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers; Brosnan was traded to the

Cincinnati Reds The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division and were a charter member of ...

in early June. Clark was a successful minor league pitcher, going 81–58 over his career and posting 18 and 16-victory seasons, the latter in the Double-A Texas League.Career statistics
from Baseball Reference After leaving baseball, he was a teacher, coach and assistant school principal in his native Albany, retiring in 1988. Clark died in Nashville, Tennessee, at the age of 86.

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Clark, Phil 1931 births 2018 deaths Albany Cardinals players Baseball players from Georgia (U.S. state) Columbus Cardinals players Columbus Red Birds players Houston Buffaloes players Major League Baseball pitchers Omaha Cardinals players Omaha Dodgers players St. Louis Cardinals players St. Paul Saints (AA) players Sportspeople from Albany, Georgia United States Navy personnel of the Korean War