Horace Clarke

Infobox MLB retired
bgcolor1=#1c2841
bgcolor2=#1c2841
textcolor1=white
textcolor2=white
name=Horace Clarke


position=Second Baseman
bats=Switch
throws=Right
birthdate=birth date and age|1940|6|2
debutdate=May 13
debutyear=by|1965
debutteam=New York Yankees
finaldate=September 15
finalyear=by|1974
finalteam=San Diego Padres
stat1label=AVG
stat1value=.256
stat2label=Hits
stat2value=1230
stat3label=SB
stat3value=151
teams=
*New York Yankees (by|1965-by|1974)
*San Diego Padres (by|1974)
highlights=
*Led AL in singles in 1967 and 1969

Horace Meredith Clarke (born June 2, 1940, in Frederiksted, St. Croix, United States Virgin Islands) was a Major League Baseball player for the New York Yankees and the San Diego Padres from 1965 to 1974.

He was signed by the Yankees as an amateur free agent in 1958. He made his Major League Baseball debut on May 13, 1965. In 1967, he became the Yankees' regular second baseman upon the retirement of longtime veteran Bobby Richardson. In 10 seasons, he hit .256, with 27 home runs and 304 RBI. In the space of one month in 1970, he broke up three possible no-hitters in the ninth inning (Jim Rooker on June 4, Sonny Siebert on June 19 and Joe Niekro on July 2). That season, Clarke made 732 plate appearances (batting 686 times officially). As a fielder, though, the knock on Clarke was that he would not turn the double play with runners barreling in. Few ever took him out with a slide, but Clarke would hold the ball after leaping.

As one of the most well-known faces of the poorly performing Yankees teams from 1967 to 1973, that period in Yankees history is commonly referred to as "The Horace Clarke Era." Clarke was sold to the San Diego Padres on May 31, 1974, for $25,000. He retired at the end of the 1974 season. After his retirement, he worked as a baseball instructor for the Virgin Islands Department of Recreation and as an assistant scout for the Kansas City Royals.

In fiction

In the television show "The Job", Horace Clarke is referred to occasionally.

ources

* [http://www.baseball-almanac.com/players/player.php?p=clarkho01 Baseball Almanac]
* [http://www.baseballlibrary.com/baseballlibrary/ballplayers/C/Clarke_Horace.stm Baseball Library]
* [http://www.baseball-reference.com/c/clarkho01.shtml Baseball Reference]
* [http://www.thebaseballcube.com/players/C/horace-clarke.shtml The Baseball Cube]
* [http://home.nyc.rr.com/vibaseball/clarke.html Horace Clarke (from Baseball in the Virgin Islands)]