Fred Clarke

[Baseball Guru]

Nickname(s): Cap
1872-1960


OF 1894-1911, 13-15 Louisville Pirates
Manager in 1897-1915 Pirates

Hall Of Fame in 1945

-------------Games Average HR RBI
Career ----2245 --.315 ----67 1015
World Series 15 ----.245---- 2 --9

Wins-Losses Winning %
Manager 1602-1179 .576
World Series 7-8 .467



One of baseball's toughest competitors, a top hitter and daring baserunner, Clarke was the first successful boy manager. Discovered by Louisville owner Barney Dreyfuss in the minors, the lefthanded batter quickly dominated NL pitching to become one of the game's early stars. Clarke went 5-for-5 in his first game (6/30/1894), still a ML record. The leftfielder's playing style was compared to Ty Cobb's. Fearless and dynamic, he considered each season a war and each game a battle. In 1897 Clarke was made Louisville's manager. Despite the added responsibility, he batted a career-high .406.

After the 1899 season, Clarke was one of the 14 players who went to Pittsburgh when Dreyfuss virtually merged the Pirates and Colonels. With the best players from both teams, Clarke's powerhouse won 859 games in 1901-09 (.634 winning percentage). Clarke's strong leadership, potent bat, and a star-studded lineup accounted for three straight NL pennants, culminating with the first World Series in 1903, which the Pirates lost to the Boston Pilgrims (Red Sox).

In 1909 Clarke guided Pittsburgh to a club-record 110 wins and hit two homers against Detroit in the WS, which the Pirates won in seven games. That was Clarke's last great achievement. He had just completed four straight sub-.300 seasons as a hitter, after having hit over .300 ten times in his first 13 campaigns. Pushing sore, aging legs, Cap hit .324 in 1911, then virtually stopped playing, though he appeared in 12 games in 1913-15. After the 1915 season, he quit baseball and returned to his Kansas ranch.

Clarke retired among the all-time leaders in batting average, runs scored, hits, triples, and stolen bases. He was Pittsburgh's most successful manager in both wins (1,422) and percentage (.595) and ranked among the all-time club leaders in games, at-bats, hits, triples, and stolen bases. In 1945 the Hall of Fame Veterans Committee enshrined him at Cooperstown. His brother Josh spent five years in the ML. (ME)

FROM THE BASEBALL CHRONOLOGY

» June 30th, 1894: Future Hall of Famer Fred Clarke sets a record by going 5-for-5 in his first ML game, but Louisville squanders his performance in a 13-6 loss to Philadelphia.
» August 31st, 1895: Fred Clarke of Louisville has his 35-game hitting streak broken in an 8-4 victory over Washington.

» May 20th, 1897: Fred Clarke gets 5 hits to help Louisville to a 13-inning 13-12 decision over Brooklyn.

» June 16th, 1897: Louisville president Harry Pulliam fires manager Rogers and replaces him with 24-year-old OF Fred Clarke. In addition to his $2,400 salary, Clarke gets an extra $500 for managing the team.

» October 14th, 1898: Playing manager Fred Clarke of Louisville goes 4-for-5, including a triple, against Cleveland. This is his 7th 4-hit game, tops for the NL season.

» October 6th, 1899: Frank "Noodles" Hahn of Cincinnati faces only 28 Louisville batters in a one-hit 8-1 victory. Tommy Leach's single drives in manager Fred Clarke, who had reached base on an error.

» April 28th, 1906: It's the only time 2 managers steal home on the same day. Cubs pilot Frank Chance steals in the 9th to give Chicago a 1-0 win over the Reds, and Fred Clarke matches it in the Pirates' 10-1 win over the St. Louis Cardinals.

» May 21st, 1907: NL president Pulliam dismisses the protests of Pittsburgh manager Fred Clarke over Bresnahan's shin guards. As yet, Bresnahan is the only catcher using them.

» September 20th, 1907: Every player but one is hitless in the Pittsburgh-Brooklyn game, won by the Pirates 2-1. Rookie Nick Maddox allows no Superba hits; manager Fred Clarke gets the only two given up by Elmer Stricklett.

» September 4th, 1908: In a game, the significance of which will not be recognized until three weeks later, the Pirates and Cubs are tied 0-0 in the last of the 10th at Pittsburgh. With two outs and the bases loaded, Pittsburgh's Owen Wilson singles to CF, scoring Fred Clarke with the winning run. Warren Gill, on 1B, does not get to 2B but stops short, turns, and heads for the dugout, a common practice. The Cubs' Johnny Evers calls for the ball from Jimmy Slagle, touches 2B, and claims the run does not count as Gill has been forced. The lone umpire, Hank O'Day, has left the field. When queried, he rules that Clarke had already scored, so the run counts. The Cubs protest to league president Pulliam, but are denied. This is the first time the Cubs try this tactic, but not the last.

» October 8th, 1909: The Pirates, winners of 110 games, face Detroit in the WS, which pits the 2 leagues' top offensive stars, Honus Wagner and Ty Cobb. Pittsburgh manager Fred Clarke starts 27-year-old rookie righthander Babe Adams against Tigers P George Mullin. There are only 11 hits in the game, but one is a HR by Clarke, and the Pirates win 4-1.

» August 23rd, 1910: Fred Clarke makes a record four OF assists for Pittsburgh against the Phils.

» April 25th, 1911: In his last full season as a player, 38-year-old Pirate player-manager Fred Clarke is kept busy with 10 putouts in LF.


» May 30th, 1913: John McGraw joins Fred Clarke, Cap Anson, Frank Selee, and Connie Mack as managers who have won one,000 games.

» September 8th, 1915: Fred Clarke resigns as Pirates manager having won four pennants in 19 years.

» June 6th, 1925: Fred Clarke and Honus Wagner are in the lineup of a 1901 Pirates team that plays a brief game as part of Golden Jubilee Day in Pittsburgh. A week later Clarke joins the Pirates as assistant to the president, a move that will lead to a player revolt in which heads roll and pennants are lost.

[imgreat95]

i actually have 4 baseball cards of fred clarke from the 1911 season.

[pmeares17]

thanks for posting that
1897 Clarke was made Louisville's manager. Despite the added responsibility, he batted a career-high .406.

thats an amazing average