Happy Birthday to the late and great Hall of Famer Fred Clarke, another all-time great from the Dead-Ball Era. In a career that lasted twenty-one years, playing primarily for the Pittsburgh Pirates and also for the former Louisville Colonels. As well as being a great Left Fielder, he served as a Player/Manager in all but the first three years of his playing career.

Career Statistics/Accolades (1894-1911; 13-15):

.312 BA 2,678 HITS 67 HR 1,015 RBI 1,622 RUNS .386 OBP 

Managerial Record 1,602-1,181 W-L

  • 4x NL Pennant (1901-03; 09)
  • 1909 World Series Champion

We all know that in the Dead Ball Era, there was no such thing as “Swinging For the Fences” like today’s game. Wherever you batted in the lineup, you were expected to get on base regardless of bunt, hit, or walk and run the bases well; Clarke did just that. As a left-handed hitter, he batted over .300 eleven times in his career, featuring a 35-game hitting streak in 1895. If it weren’t for his fellow teammate Honus Wagner, he would own a Batting Title, losing to him by .003 in 1903. He drew 875 career Walks at the plate while only striking out 511 times. As a base runner, I’ll start with Triples, where he hit in double digits fourteen times. Clarke stole 509 bases in his career and 30 or more in a season seven times. Finally, in terms of scoring Runs, he scored at least 90 Runs ten times.

Defensively, he played all but 56 career Innings in the Outfield, primarily in Left Field. In Left Field, he led all other players in Fielding Percentage nine times at the position.

As a Player/Manager, it all started at the age of twenty-four in 1897 for Louisville. However, after 1899, when Louisville folded, he joined the Pittsburgh Pirates; he served as the Player/Manager until his retirement in 1915. Taking over a team that young was unheard of, but from 1900-15, along with the greatest Shortstop of all-time, Honus Wagner, the Pirates made the World Series four times, winning in 1909. Also, until his final two seasons, 1914-15, the Pirates never had a losing season under the leadership of Clarke. 

Remember, the Hall of Fame didn’t officially open its doors until 1939, and in 1945, as one of the first to be elected on the Old-Timers Committee, he was voted in unanimously.

References:

  1. Fred Clarke via Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fred_Clarke#
  2. Fred Clarke Career Statistics via Baseball-Reference: https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/c/clarkfr01.shtml