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Baseballers of Lesser Note: Justin Jay Clarke
Topic Started: May 25 2012, 10:48 AM (1,079 Views)
Erick Von Erich
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I'm Big E and I tell it like it is
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Hallo there, and welcome to the seventeenth installment of (Professional) Baseballers of Lesser Note. In which we spotlight some of the distinguished gentlemen who have partaken in the professional gentleman's sport of baseball throughout the various eras encompassing the aforementioned sport.

This week we look at Justin Jay Clarke.

Posted Image

What'd He Do?
9 Seasons, .254 avg, 6 HR, 127 RBIs

Yeah, so?
A Canadian Indian; more well-known by this now racially un-sensitive nickname; Clarke was a catcher who broke into pro ball at the age of 19. He first came to notice in the wild Texas League of the early 20th century. A constantly evolving league that was usually funded by oil-boom money in those days.

Due to geography and the lack of speedy transportation, a lot of players simply could not make it back to the east coast, so the Texas League was almost a 3rd (or 4th if you count the Federal League) big league. Yet teams were constantly re-locating, running out of money, or simply losing interest in the middle of a season.

Okay....so?
At 19 in 1902, Clarke had his big day for the "Oil City Oilers", who played out of the boom-town of Corsicana, TX. Thinking it would boost attedance, the Oilers scheduled a home game for Sunday, June 15. But the town of Corsicana had "blue laws" which prohibited a business of any kind to operate on Sundays. The Oilers' owner scrambled and found a town and field available on Sundays; the town of Ennis about 30 miles away. It had a MUCH smaller field and dimensions were reported to be only about 175 feet to one outfield wall."Everything's bigger in Texas... except the ballpark dimensions".

The hapless team of Texarkana were the Oilers' opponents that day...as Texarkana was routed by the score of 3-51. There are even accounts that Texarkana's manager inserted his son as the starting pitcher. Aided by the short wall and lack of quality opposition, Clarke reportedly hit EIGHT homers that day. Several Texas oilmen were present and began passing a hat around to pay Clarke for his homer barrage, increasing it with every dinger (safe to assume that the oilmen had probably partaken of a few libations). Clarke walked out of Ennis with 8 HRs, 16 RBIs and $185 in cash.

Reports in those days were sketchy, as there's always been a debate over Clarke's numbers. Eye-witnesses swear he hit 8. Clarke maintained that as well, even when he returned to be the Texas League commissioner in the 1940's. The record of 8 homers in one game still stands, unofficially, as a Texas League record.

In between his 8 homers and presidential run, Clarke entered the big leagues in 1905 and stuck around until 1920. He was mostly with the Tigers, where none other than Ty Cobb called him one of the two best catchers he ever played with. He also played with the Pirates, Phillies, Browns and Naps (Indians). With the Naps in 1908 he caught a perfect game for Hall of Famer Addie Joss. At that time, it was only the 4th perfect game in ML history.

Clarke is also known for introducing shin guards to the Big Leagues. A member of the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame, one of Clarke's shin guards is supposedly on display there. Makes you wonder how many painful foul balls catcher bounced off their shins before somebody thought to add some form of protection.

Clarke had an interesting career and his Texas homer record is one that will never be truly proven. Yet just like several tall tales of Texas, there's no harm in believing it.
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torturedsoulv1
true maharajah Jinder Mahal
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Never heard of him, but considering the era he played in with 8 HR in one game even at
175 feet, that is a lot.
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torturedsoulv1
true maharajah Jinder Mahal
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I just googled him and saw what his nickame was. Yes it is racially insensitive, but I had
figured you meant against Native Americans or Canadiens.
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Erick Von Erich
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I'm Big E and I tell it like it is
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Yeah, I originally planned a whole 'nother paragraph about the nickname and a rant about the Texas League's less-than-impressive racial history (Willie Stargell receiving threats about getting shot while playing right field in the Texas League come to mind).

Errr... I guess I just added that on, didn't I? Nonetheless, I didn't want to dignify the nickname with an official reference, as there were much more interesting things about JJ Clarke.

He came to my notice while reading "The Texas League's Greatest Hits: Baseball in the Lone Star State". A perfect "bathroom book", with quick stories about Texas ball. I'd been looking for something like it since I first went to Texas in 2008. Finally found one, last month, for 5 bucks at the awesome "Half Price Books" store. If you ever see one of these stores, stop in! I've picked up the McKenzie Brothers original vinyl album, some Spanish-language Avengers comics and other stuff that has just made me giddy.
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