(Submitted on behalf of HoraceClarke66, whose computer remains in 2016.)
It's been a tough year for losses here in New York. One of the biggest, of course, was the great Pete Hamill, a wonderful writer, an all-around mensch, and someone who loved the city like few others. He was a giant, who will not be replaced.
It would be ridiculous to ever compare Horace Clarke to Hamill, of course. But he was also a New Yorker who seemed to embody a certain era in the city's era, and all in all a real pro, who took a lot and let it roll off his back.
There have been few knocks more unfair in sports than to make Clarke the face of the Yankees' decline in "the Horace Clarke years." Was he a great talent? No. He walked too infrequently to be a leadoff man today, he hit with little power, and of course he had to follow in the footsteps of Yankees great Bobby Richardson.
Take any stat you want, old or new, to compare them, and you'll see right away that Horace Clarke is no Bobby Richardson. In fact, he's better.
Don't believe me? You could look it up, as Casey Stengel would say.
Think Horace was unsuited to be a lead-off hitter? The real question is how Richardson managed to hit ahead of Mantle, Maris, and Howard, and never score 100 runs in a season. If Clarke didn't walk enough, he still drew over a hundred more bases-on-balls than Bobby did—in 140 fewer games.
Neither man hit for power, and Richardson's average was a little better, .266 with a .634 OPS, to Horace's .256 and .621 OPS—though Clarke played in more of a pitcher's era. Also, he stole bases. Bobby swiped 73, and got thrown out 48 times. Horace stole 151, and only got caught 58 times.
But it's in the field that Horace really surprises. He led the AL in assists a record 6 years in a row, in putouts 4 years in a row, in double-plays twice, in range factor 4 times, in fielding percentage, once. Richardson, winner of 5 Gold Gloves, led in DPs 4 times, in putouts twice — and never in any of those other categories.
According to Baseball Reference's WAR calculations, Horace leads Bobby in hitting WAR, 14.1-8.2, AND in fielding WAR, 6.2-4.9.
Now, I'll be the first to argue, as I have in this space, that fielding is ultimately too difficult to pin down in stats, and that WAR is very flawed. But the figures show that at least Horace represented.
So why the bad rap? Well, to begin with, Horace Clarke had a funny name, he looked and moved a little funny — especially to white sportswriters—and he insisted on doing eccentric things, such as staying in the once-grand Concourse Plaza Hotel even as it was turning into a welfare hotel.
Also, his teammates threw him under the bus. To read Philip Bashe's excellent book, "Dog Days," about the 1965-75 Yankees, you'd think that Horace Clarke personally cost that team a half-dozen World Series. A bunch of pitchers talk about how he was so wooden in the field, or wouldn't stand in on double-plays.
Considering the facts that a) Yankees pitchers of that time gave up very few runs, and that b) Horace constantly led the league in major defensive categories, I'm not sure what they wanted him to do. Run out to right field and haul fly balls back from over the fence, maybe?
Oh, also Curt Blefary basically calls him a coward for not standing in enough at second. How many times Curt, one of the worst ballplayers I ever saw, managed to get to second base, is anybody's guess.
I followed those Yankees teams in painstaking detail at the time, and I can tell you there were many worse players on them than Horace Clarke: Charlie Smith, Jerry Kenney, Jake Gibbs. Curt Blefary.
And something else? Most of those teams weren't that bad. After 1967, they usually had a winning record. They just didn't go to the World Series every year, like Bobby Richardson's did—and where Bobby, to his infinite credit, had some great Octobers.
As for Horace Clarke, he was always hustling, always doing the little things. In one remarkable stretch, from June 4th to July 2nd, 1969, he broke up no-hitters by 4 different pitchers in the 9th inning — something else that should tell us about the giants Horace was surrounded by. I was in the stands for one of them, in Fenway Park, when he singled off Sonny Siebert. I was happy to see it. I was happy for what Horace Clarke gave us.
I didn't actually meet him, but the one time I scored luxury box seats (and for Old-Timers' Day, no less) Hoss came by to shake hands and chat a bit with the box owners. Who, by the way, looked at me, my dad and a friend of mine like we were complete interlopers. Which we were. I cajoled a guy at work to cajole a guy he knew to get us the tickets. I don't remember anything about the games, but my dad loved the free beer and food, he told me that he saw Ruth and Gehrig play when he was a kid (never had mentioned it before, and this was just a couple years before he died), and later on he fell at Stan's Sports Bar, not knowing there was a step behind him in the doorway, fracturing a shoulder but not spilling a drop of his beer.
ReplyDeleteLast time I went to a game with my dad. My friend from that day is gone, too. And now, so is Hoss.
Hoss,
ReplyDeleteThis deserves wider publication. I hope you are working the phones and sending it out.
It must be strange to have so connected yourself to a player as to take his name as a screen name. The closest I've come was naming my hard drive "Bouton".
Because of you, it feels like a member of the family passed. So again, my deepest condolences. You have kept him alive and in our consciousness and have done him proud.
Doug K
I remember telling my father's friend that I thought Horace Clarke was a better second baseman than Bobby Richardson, and he laughed at me. He was my favorite player during those lean years. I have a prized autographed photo from him. Thank you for doing this research. It warms my heart.
ReplyDeleteI remember when Horace was interviewed by reporters in Spring 1974. They asked him how he could keep his position with his less than average performance at the position. Horace answered, and I'm paraphrasing here, "I'm the best that they have..." (Please help me with the quote, it was infamous).
ReplyDeleteHe was traded soon after that to San Diego.
Thanks, Hoss.
ReplyDeleteAnd thanks to the original Hoss.
He was a piece of my childhood and a true Yankee. I may have used him as an example - later in life, when I was cold and cruel, before being softened by the blows of later middle age - of how the Yankees from my youth had kind of sucked. In reality, I went to the stadium and cheered him on, along with Bobby Murcer. I watched on TV and cheered him on. For me, who was a little young to enjoy the end of the middle dynasty Yankees, Hoss WAS the Yankees when I was at a most impressionable age.
Long live Hoss!
I was just a little too young to remember seeing Mr. Clarke play, but Hoss's essay and the great stories in the comments are, honestly, why I stop by here sometimes. In a world chock-full of bullshit and disagreement, this is a beautiful thing. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteThanks guys, glad to hear it. My favorite Yankees in those days, after The Mick retired, were Roy White and Mel Stottlemyre. But I always liked Horace, who was actually the very first Yankee I ever saw bat.
ReplyDeleteAnd again, I've only seen Bobby Richardson play in old clips of a World Series game or two. But there is, at least no statistical evidence that he was better.
And hey—a mistake on my part. The year I saw Horace thwart Sonny Siebert—and everybody else—was 1970, not 1969. Sorry!
ReplyDelete
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