Rickey Charles Clark (born March 21, 1946) is a retired American

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Modern professional ...

player Player may refer to: Role or adjective * Player (game), a participant in a game or sport ** Gamer, a player in video and tabletop games ** Athlete, a player in sports ** Player character, a character in a video game or role playing game who ...

and right-handed

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 ...

who appeared in all or parts of five 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), ...

for the California Angels. At 21, Clark had a highly promising

rookie A rookie is a person new to an occupation, profession, or hobby. In sports, a ''rookie'' is a professional athlete in their first season (or year). In contrast with a veteran who has experience and expertise, a rookie is usually inexperienced ...

season for the pennant-contending

Angels In various theistic religious traditions an angel is a supernatural spiritual being who serves God. Abrahamic religions often depict angels as benevolent celestial intermediaries between God (or Heaven) and humanity. Other roles incl ...

, but struggled thereafter during his big league career. Born in

Mount Clemens, Michigan Mount Clemens is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 16,314 at the 2010 census. It is the seat of government of Macomb County. History Mount Clemens was first surveyed in 1795 after the American Revolutionary War by Christi ...

, Clark was signed by his hometown Detroit Tigers in 1965, after graduating from

Redford Union High School Redford Union High School (RUHS) is a secondary school in Redford, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit. The school is affiliated with the Redford Union School District and serves grades 9-12. History Redford Union High School's first graduating class ...

and just prior to the institution of the

Major League Baseball Draft The first-year player draft is the primary mechanism of Major League Baseball (MLB) for assigning amateur baseball players from high schools, colleges, and other amateur baseball clubs to its teams. The draft order is determined based on a lo ...

. After two seasons in the Tiger farm system, the Angels selected the , pitcher in the 1966 Rule 5 draft.

Sparkling rookie season

Rule 5's terms (then as now) dictated that the Angels keep Clark on their 25-man big-league roster for the entire 1967 season or offer him back to the Detroit organization, but Clark would earn his place in the Angels'

starting rotation R rabbit ears :Indicates a participant in the game who hears things perhaps too well for their own good. A player who becomes nervous or chokes when opposing players or fans yell at or razz them is said to have rabbit ears. Also, an umpire ...

on merit. After he won his MLB debut on April 22 with four scoreless innings in

relief Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces are bonded to a solid background of the same material. The term '' relief'' is from the Latin verb ''relevo'', to raise. To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that th ...

against the

Cleveland Indians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. Since , they have played at Progressive Fi ...

, Clark made his first start eight days later against 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 ...

; he went seven innings, allowed only four hits and two

earned run In baseball, an earned run is any run that was fully enabled by the offensive team's production in the face of competent play from the defensive team. Conversely, an unearned run is a run that would not have been scored without the aid of an erro ...

s, and collected his second big-league triumph.

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 ...

Bill Rigney William Joseph Rigney (January 29, 1918 – February 20, 2001) was an American infielder and manager in Major League Baseball. A 26-year big-league veteran, Rigney played for the New York Giants from to , then spent 18 seasons as the skipper o ...

then kept Clark as a regular member of the Angel starting staff through the remainder of the season, in which the Angels battled for the

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 ...

pennant before fading in September. Clark won 12 games, tying him with staff ace

Jim McGlothlin James Milton McGlothlin (October 6, 1943 – December 23, 1975), nicknamed "Red", was an American Major League Baseball pitcher. Born in Los Angeles, he graduated from Reseda High School in 1961 and was signed the following year by the Los Ang ...

and closer Minnie Rojas for the team lead in victories. His 2.59

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 ...

also was best among Angel starters. He threw a two-hit, complete game

shutout In team sports, a shutout ( US) or clean sheet ( UK) is a game in which one team prevents the other from scoring any points. While possible in most major sports, they are highly improbable in some sports, such as basketball. Shutouts are usuall ...

against the Washington Senators on September 8 at D.C. Stadium. It was his only complete game and shutout of the season.

Later MLB career

The following year, , saw Clark lose nine of his first ten decisions (despite a respectable 3.27 earned run average) and drop out of the Angel starting rotation in early July. He worked in only 94 innings pitched, half of his 1967 workload, and finished the year with a 1–11 record. He then spent most of , all of , and the early weeks of in 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 No ...

. But the Angels recalled him in June 1971, and in his third appearance and second starting assignment, Clark tossed another two-hit shutout, this time against the eventual division champion Oakland Athletics at

Anaheim Stadium Angel Stadium of Anaheim is a baseball stadium located in Anaheim, California. Since its opening in 1966, it has served as the home ballpark of the Los Angeles Angels of Major League Baseball (MLB), and was also the home stadium to the Los Angel ...

on July 2."California Angels 1, Oakland Athletics 0"
Retrosheet box score: 1971-07-02 Those two-hitters, almost four years apart, would be the only shutouts of his MLB career. Clark spent the entire season with the Angels, working in 26 games (with 15 starts) and hurling two more complete games. But he posted a 4–9 record and a 4.51 earned run average and during the offseason his contract was sold to the Philadelphia Phillies' organization, where he spent 1973 at Triple-A before leaving baseball. In 96 major league games pitched (70 starts), Clark won 19 games and lost 32 ( .373) with a 3.38 career earned run average. In 431 innings pitched, he allowed 371 hits and 213 bases on balls,

striking out ''Striking Out'' is an Irish television legal drama series, broadcast on RTÉ, that first aired on 1 January 2017. Produced by Bl!nder F!lms for RTÉ Television, ''Striking Out'' stars Amy Huberman as Dublin-based solicitor Tara Rafferty, who is ...

236.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Clark, Rickey 1946 births Living people Baseball players from Michigan California Angels players El Paso Sun Kings players Eugene Emeralds players Hawaii Islanders players Jamestown Tigers players Major League Baseball pitchers Montgomery Rebels players People from Mount Clemens, Michigan Salt Lake City Angels players Sportspeople from Metro Detroit Toledo Mud Hens players