Outfielder, Pittsburgh
Pirates
Age: 28
2nd season
with Pirates
Bats – Left,
Throws – Right
Height: 5’10” Weight: 165
Prior to 1901:
Born in Iowa,
Clarke moved with his large family to Kansas where he started his schooling. He
continued his education in Des Moines, Iowa upon his family’s return. A second
baseman and catcher for an amateur baseball team in Des Moines, by 1892 he was
with Hastings in the semi-pro Nebraska State League. A fine line-drive hitter
and base stealer, Clarke was shifted to the outfield where he was a very raw
talent who worked to improve his defensive skill. Two more seasons of minor
league play, in which he nearly gave up on professional baseball, landed him
with the Louisville Colonels of the National League in 1894, where he appeared
in 76 games and batted .274 with 11 doubles, 7 triples, 7 home runs, 48 RBIs,
26 stolen bases, a .337 on-base percentage, and a .420 slugging percentage. Now
the club’s starting left fielder, in 1895 he hit .347 with 21 doubles, 5
triples, 4 home runs, 82 RBIs, 40 stolen bases, a .396 OBP, and a .425 slugging
percentage. He was esteemed for his speed and aggressiveness on the basepaths combined
with fierce competitiveness and exciting defense. Experiencing difficulty while
going back on fly balls, he played a deep left field and depended on his speed
to make plays. Clarke had another productive season for the last-place Colonels
in 1896, batting .325 with 15 doubles, 18 triples, 9 home runs, 79 RBIs, 34
stolen bases, a .392 OBP, and a .476 slugging percentage. Having cleaned up his
lifestyle after attempting to imitate his older teammates with drinking and
carousing, he developed into a team leader and was named player/manager during
the 1897 season at age 24. His hitting remained formidable as he batted .390 with
30 doubles, 13 triples, 6 home runs, 67 RBIs, 59 stolen bases, a .461 OBP, and
a .530 slugging percentage. He continued to display his prowess as a player in
1898 and 1899 while honing his managerial skills. The contraction of the NL
following the 1899 season eliminated the Louisville franchise and owner Barney
Dreyfuss dealt Clarke and other good players to the Pirates, his other team.
Continuing as player/manager in Pittsburgh he guided the club to a strong
second-place finish in 1900 while hitting .276 with 15 doubles, 12 triples, 3
home runs, 32 RBIs, 21 stolen bases, and a .368 OBP. Although gruff and
plain-spoken, he proved to be adept at maintaining good morale and team
cohesion, Clarke was a shrewd judge of talent and was particularly successful
with his pitchers.
1901 Season Summary
Appeared in 129
games
LF – 127, SS – 1,
3B – 1, PH – 1
[Bracketed
numbers indicate NL rank in Top 20]
Batting
Plate
Appearances – 601 [16]
At Bats – 527 [18]
Runs – 118 [4]
Hits – 171 [13]
Doubles – 24 [13,
tied with Emmet Heidrick]
Triples – 15 [7,
tied with Bobby Wallace & Jesse Burkett]
Home Runs – 6 [9,
tied with five others]
RBI – 60
Bases on Balls
– 51 [12, tied with George Van Haltren]
Int. BB – N/A
Strikeouts – 44
Stolen Bases – 23
Caught Stealing
– N/A
Average - .324
[12, tied with Bobby Wallace]
OBP - .395 [10]
Slugging Pct. -
.461 [9]
Total Bases – 243
[11]
GDP – N/A
Hit by Pitches
– 10 [5, tied with Jesse Burkett, Art Nichols & Fred Crolius]
Sac Hits – 13 [13,
tied with five others]
Sac Flies – N/A
Midseason
snapshot: 2B – 9, 3B – 3, HR - 2, RBI – 28, AVG - .292, OBP – .353, SLG– .379
Most hits, game
– 4 on five occasions
Longest hitting
streak – 15 games
Most HR, game –
1 on six occasions
HR at home – 3
HR on road – 3
Multi-HR games
– 0
Most RBIs, game
– 4 at Bos. Beaneaters 5/25
Pinch-hitting –
N/A
Fielding
Chances – 304
Put Outs – 282
Assists – 13
Errors – 9
DP – 0
Pct. - .970
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The Pirates went 90-49 to win the NL pennant by 7.5 games over the Philadelphia Phillies while leading the league in OBP (.345). The well-balanced Pirates moved into first place on June 11 and never relinquished the top spot the rest of the way, pulling away from the field in September.
Aftermath of 1901:
The Pirates were even better in 1902, winning the NL pennant by 27.5 games and benefiting from the presence of three 20-game winning pitchers in addition to having a solid group of hitters. Clarke himself batted .316 with 27 doubles, 14 triples, 2 home runs, 53 RBIs, 29 stolen bases, a .401 OBP, and a .449 slugging percentage. Pittsburgh won a third straight pennant in 1903 and, in addition to his managerial acumen, Clarke hit .351 and tied for the league lead in doubles (32) while leading outright in slugging percentage (.532) and also contributing 15 triples, 5 home runs, 70 RBIs, and a .414 OBP. The Pirates lost the first modern World Series to the Boston Americans (now Red Sox). The Pirates dropped to fourth place in 1904 and Clarke, hindered by a leg injury, played in only 72 games and hit .306 with a .367 OBP. He rebounded in 1905 to bat .299 with 18 doubles, 15 triples, 2 home runs, 51 RBIs, 24 stolen bases, and a .368 OBP. His defense remained outstanding and the club finished in a solid second place. Pittsburgh remained a first division team from 1906 to 1908 and Clarke tied for the NL lead in triples in 1906 (13) and remained a productive all-around player and skillful manager. After narrowly missing out on the pennant in 1908, the Pirates topped the National League in 1909. Clarke led the league in walks drawn (80) while batting .287 with 16 doubles, 11 triples, 3 home runs, 68 RBIs, 31 stolen bases, and a .384 OBP. Pittsburgh won the World Series in seven games against the Detroit Tigers and Clarke accounted for two home runs and 7 RBIs. He also chose to start rookie RHP Babe Adams, rather than one of his veteran hurlers that included two 20-game winners, in the opening game and he went on to win that contest and a total of three games which included the decisive seventh in achieving a World Series title. Now 36 years old and eyeing retirement, Clarke was persuaded by Barney Dreyfuss to return in 1910 which proved to be a lesser season for himself and the club. Clarke stayed on as manager until 1915 although he saw little action as a player after 1911. With the club’s fortunes having gone sour, Clarke resigned as manager near the end of the 1915 season when he was saluted with a Fred Clarke Day by the Pirates, in which he took the field as a player for the last time. For his major league playing career, Clarke batted .312 with 2678 hits that included 361 doubles, 220 triples, and 67 home runs. He scored 1622 runs and compiled 1015 RBIs, 509 stolen bases, a .386 OBP, and a .429 slugging percentage. With the Pirates he batted .299 with 1015 runs scored, 1638 hits, 238 doubles, 156 triples, 33 home runs, 622 RBIs, 261 stolen bases, a .379 OBP, and a .418 slugging percentage. He appeared in 15 World Series games and hit .245 with 2 home runs and 7 RBIs. Independently wealthy following his playing and managing career, Clarke returned to the Pirates as an assistant to Dreyfuss and to manager Bill McKechnie during the 1925 season. All was well when the club went on to win the World Series that year, but the situation went bad in 1926. The players had voted to give Clarke only a $1000 World Series share, well below McKechnie, another coach, and the team secretary. The Pirates encountered on-field difficulties and he became the focal point of some player dissension. Clarke came under public attack from long-time veteran players in what came to be called the “ABC Affair”, referring to pitcher Babe Adams and outfielders Carson Bigbee and Max Carey who publicly attacked Clarke’s role and sought the support of other team members to agree to a resolution that would remove Clarke as a presence on the club’s bench in addition to McKechnie. The players voted overwhelmingly in a team meeting to retain Clarke and the conspirators were all jettisoned from the club as a result. Clarke left the team for good after the season. His managerial record was 1602-1181, which included a 1422-969 tally with the Pirates that resulted in four pennants and a World Series title along with 14 consecutive finishes in the National League’s first division. He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1945 and, following several brushes with death due to accidents over the ensuing years he died in 1960 at age 87. His brother Josh played for four major league teams between 1898 and 1911.
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Highlighted Years feature players who led a major league in one of the following categories: batting average, home runs (with a minimum of 10), runs batted in, or stolen bases (with a minimum of 20); or pitchers who led a major league in wins, strikeouts, earned run average, or saves (with a minimum of 10). Also included are participants in annual All-Star Games between the National and American Leagues since 1933. This category also includes Misc. players who received award votes, were contributors to teams that reached the postseason, or had notable seasons in non-award years.