Jack the Ripper and the Dispatches of ’88
Jack Clark’s early career was a smorgasbord of v-Club members’ greatest hits. He was a highly touted and successful minor league player that came with assertions he would be the best fastball hitter in the league, or wield a bat that was “something special,” or be the next toolsy Mickey Mantle-type player. He proved his fans right, to a degree, by earning All-Star Game nods and sprinkling in MVP votes across several seasons.
On the flip side, but still similar to fellow Club members, Clark was often injured. He frequently clashed with his managers. He developed strong bonds with teammates then became disaffected when his mentors were traded away. There were other teammates that became the focus of his ire. Like many, Clark was a talented, yet complicated player and person. And unlike everyone before him (and most of those after), would have one of the singularly most impressive ledger seasons ever.
The San Francisco Years
The Giants had never rostered a current or future v-Club member until Clark debuted with the team in 1975. And he made that debut as a youngster at only nineteen years old. His first season consisted of only eight games and did not display the same power or hitting skill he put on display in the minors.
1976 was also a shortened season for Clark, but he did manage two September home runs, both of them ledgers.
LEDGER ONE: September 11, 1976 vs Cincinnati Reds
LEDGER TWO: September 23, 1976 vs Los Angeles Dodgers
Clark continued to claw for playing time in 1977, much to his dismay. His .252 average and thirteen home runs seemed like a far cry from the potential he showed before being called up full-time. He added seven more ledgers.
LEDGER THREE: May 30, 1977 (Game 1) vs San Diego Padres
LEDGER FOUR: June 3, 1977 (Game 2) at Atlanta Braves
LEDGER FIVE: June 8, 1977 at Pittsburgh Pirates
LEDGER SIX: June 20, 1977 vs Chicago Cubs
LEDGER SEVEN: July 24, 1977 (Game 2) vs Montreal Expos
LEDGER EIGHT: August 6, 1977 at New York Mets
LEDGER NINE: August 25, 1977 at St. Louis Cardinals
1978 would be Jack Clark’s breakout year. He raised his average to .306 alongside 25 home runs, became a first-time All-Star selection and placed fifth in NL MVP voting. But as is true to fashion, he had limited ledgers to collect after three seasons of work.
LEDGER TEN: August 9, 1978 vs Houston Astros
LEDGER ELEVEN: September 1, 1978 vs Philadelphia Phillies
It’s not part of the main story, but here’s an interesting statistical side tale. It took Clark twenty-nine games and 118 plate appearances against the Astros before he collected his ledger, almost double the amount of the next hardest team (which you might guess was the Phillies). The Astros were, at least up to this point, by far the hardest team for v-Club members to collect. Granted only ten members had hit one against the Astros, but those ten averaged 61 plate appearances against them before hitting their ledger. The next “hardest” team was the Yankees at 52 PA. Clark’s Giants were the easiest with fourteen. The player that hit the “fastest” home run against the Astros took 20 plate appearances. The next slowest fastest plate appearance count was against the Padres or Blue Jays at nine. Perhaps we’ll take a deeper dive into what effect the Astrodome played in these numbers later.
Back to Clark, who was now maxed out in the National League. He would go on to play six more seasons in San Francisco which seemed to feature more downs than ups. He had good seasons, but none that may be considered truly great. Frank Robinson came in as manager, which may have been to the detriment of Jack Clark. Joe Morgan came as a late-career journeyman and left after two seasons. The departure of Clark’s mentor assuredly came as a detriment. 1983 was a low point for both the team and for Clark and after the 1984 season he would be on the move.
The St. Louis Years
Clark’s three years with the Birds were revitalizing. He got his last National League ledger quickly…
LEDGER TWELVE: May 3, 1985 vs San Francisco Giants
… then went on to have two seasons worthy of MVP votes. He got his first taste if the post-season, but injuries prevented him from significant playing time in the Cardinals’ October runs. His 1987 season was scorching – 35 home runs, 106 RBI, and a league leading on-base percentage and slugging percentage. At the conclusion of what would be the best season of his career, and one of the best offensively by any Cardinal in recent memory, the Cardinals, as they say, fumbled the bag. They failed to negotiate contract with Clark and he signed as a free agent with the Yankees.
The New York Year
In yet another altogether common occurrence, an American League team had taken on an aging veteran and made him a designated hitter. Clark answered that call by mashing 27 home runs for the Bronx Bombers.
Let’s take a short step back in time. There were eleven players who shared the record for most ledgers hit in a season as the calendar turned to September 1987. Richie Zisk, Dave Hostetler, Cal Ripken Jr., Ron Kittle, Alvin Davis, Phil Bradley, Rob Deer, Cory Snyder, Pete Incaviglia, Ellis Burks, and Fred McGriff had all hit twelve ledgers in a single season. Fred McGriff took all their titles away with his thirteenth ledger on September 14, 1987. Jack Clark would soon join him.
Clark mowed through his American League opponents with shocking efficiency in 1988. He recorded all thirteen of the available ledgers in his one year with the Yankees.
LEDGER THIRTEEN: April 20, 1988 at Minnesota Twins
LEDGER FOURTEEN: April 26, 1988 vs Kansas City Royals
LEDGER FIFTEEN: April 30, 1988 vs Texas Rangers
LEDGER SIXTEEN: May 2, 1988 at Chicago White Sox
LEDGER SEVENTEEN: May 16, 1988 vs Seattle Mariners
LEDGER EIGHTEEN: May 22, 1988 vs Oakland Athletics
LEDGER NINETEEN: May 24, 1988 at California Angels
LEDGER TWENTY: June 4, 1988 at Baltimore Orioles
LEDGER TWENTY-ONE: June 13, 1988 at Boston Red Sox
LEDGER TWENTY-TWO: June 17, 1988 at Cleveland Indians
LEDGER TWENTY-THREE: June 29, 1988 vs Detroit Tigers
LEDGER TWENTY-FOUR: August 3, 1988 at Milwaukee Brewers
LEDGER TWENTY-FIVE: August 9, 1988 vs Toronto Blue Jays
Few of the ledgers themselves had any intrigue behind them. The Boston home run stands out because it would be the only home run Clark would hit against them and turns out he wouldn’t get any further opportunities against them.
The thirteen-ledgers-in-a-season in pretty remarkable in and of itself, but it truly unique because of how late it came in Clark’s career. Prior to Clark, the only players who hit ten or more ledgers in or after their tenth season were:
Vada Pinson: 10 ledgers in 1970, 13 years after his first home run
Hank Aaron: 10 ledgers in 1975, 22 years after his first home run
Doug Rader: 10 ledgers in 1977, 11 years after his first home run
Tony Perez: 11 ledgers in 1980, 16 years after his first home run
Greg Luzinski: 10 ledgers in 1981, 11 years after his first home run
Darrell Evans: 10 ledgers in 1984, 14 years after his first home run
Ray Knight: 11 ledgers in 1987, 11 years after his first home run
Further, no player after Clark hit at least 13 ledgers their thirteenth season or later. The closest pair would be Gary Gaetti’s 12 ledgers in his sixteenth season in 1996 or Mark McGwire’s 12 ledgers in his twelfth season in 1997. The last player to have double digit ledgers and seasons was Robin Ventura with 10 and 10 in 1999. Inter-league play certainly contributed to the fading of this statistic and the balanced schedule likely put the final nail in its coffin.
One final statistic about Clark’s single season in New York. 2.1% of Clark’s plate appearances in Yankee pinstripes resulted in a ledger home run. This number is second only (so far) to Joe Adcock’s 2.5% ratio playing for the Indians.
All of this homering and ledgering wasn’t enough for the Yankees. They acquired another designated hitter in Ken Phelps during the season and Clark wanted out. At season’s end he was traded to the Padres.
The San Diego Years
Jack Clark’s tenure with the Padres leads to another interesting statistic. We’ll call it the MoPE score – Most Pointless Endeavor. Clark had maxed out his ledgers against National League adversaries a couple seasons back and expansion was still a half decade away. From the ledger perspective, he could do nothing in San Diego. In fact, he set the record for doing nothing. Of all the inductees thus far, Clark’s 1,036 plate appearances as a Friar were the most while with any team where a ledger could not be hit at any point in the tenure with the team. He wrestled that record away from Rico Carty and his 942 plate appearances with the Blue Jays.
His years in San Diego were decent enough on the field. He garnered MVP votes in 1989. His years in the Padres’ clubhouse were less than ideal, low-lighted by a confrontational shouting match with Tony Gwynn. After the 1990 season, Clark sought another free agent deal.
The Boston Years
He landed with the Red Sox and would resume the yoke of a designated hitter. This would be a reunion with his mentor Joe Morgan too. By this point his production was still strong enough to collect 25+ home runs, and this included his last needed ledger.
LEDGER TWENTY-SIX: September 21, 1991 vs New York Yankees
But by the time the home run had cleared the wall that autumn afternoon, the tank was nearly empty for Clark. He would go on to hit eight more home runs in his career and retire before the 1993 season despite attempts to put another season together.
Clark would continue life in the baseball world as a coach, manager, and broadcaster. His legacy would be that of a power hitter. But as we often find, his power and potential was balanced by spans offset by injury or controversy. That seems to be the v30 way.
