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Horace Meredith Clarke
New York Yankees
Second Base
Born: June 2, 1939, Frederiksted, U.S. Virgin Islands
Signed: Signed by the New York Yankees as an amateur free agent before 1958 season
Major League Teams: New York Yankees 1965-1974; San Diego Padres 1974
Died: August 5, 2020, Laurel, MD (age 81)
The "Horace Clarke Era" of Yankee baseball often refers to the years in which the Yankees suffered through a postseason dry spell between the mid-1960s through the mid-1970s. The period was named for Clarke as he was one of the more consistent and recognizable Yankees players during his decade with the club between 1965 and 1974. Clarke first came up with the Yankees in 1965 and assumed regular second base duties in 1967 upon the retirement of long-time second baseman Bobby Richardson. As the team's lead-off hitter, Clarke had over 600 plate appearances each season between 1967 and 1973, and he led the league in at-bats in 1969 and 1970 with 641 and 686, respectively. Clarke's best season came in 1969 when he batted a career-high .285 and led the league in singles for the second time. The first time had come in 1967.
Also a fine fielder, Clarke led the league in assists as a second baseman six consecutive seasons between 1967 and 1972. He led the league twice in double plays turned (1969, 1972) and his .983 fielding percentage at second base is currently 83rd all-time. Clarke was sold to the Padres in May 1974, where he played his final 42 major league games. He retired with a .256 lifetime average, 1,230 hits and 151 stolen bases. He still maintains the top spot of just about every major offensive category among players born in the U.S. Virgin Islands.
March 12, 2023 from The Philly Show (Uncle Dick's Cards)
In mid-March, Doug and I attended the Philadelphia Sports Collectors Show, held within the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center in Oaks, Pennsylvania. My main focus for this show was accumulating as many 1969 Topps commons as possible, which I did by adding a grand total of 193 cards to our set. That's almost 30% of the entire set added in one enjoyable afternoon. I wrote a full summary of the show in a post over at The Phillies Room, found here.
This is the 55th of the 193 commons and semi-stars purchased, pulled and stacked from the first two neon green binders housing 1969 Topps cards at the multi-table spread of Uncle Dick's Cards from Babylon, New York. My method was simple - I pulled up a chair, found a card I needed, picked the best of the group from the binder page and set it aside. After each 100 cards, I'd ask the dealer to tell me how much damage I had done so far. With a budget in mind, I kept going twice, continuing after card #100 and card #200, and stopping at card #298. The final amount due was 17% off the sticker price for the pile of 193 cards, with this card costing me $1.25.
The Card / Yankees Team Set / Accuracy Index +5
Clarke is posing at Yankee Stadium, with his long-time uniform number, #20, visible on his back. The number has since been retired for catcher Jorge Posada. There's a coach making a cameo in the background, and I believe that could be coach Frankie Crosetti, who wore #2 and coached for the Yankees between 1947 and 1968. Crosetti joined the expansion Pilots as a coach in 1969. Crosetti is also visible in the background of Clarke's 1968 Topps card as both photos for Clarke's 1968 and 1969 cards were taken at the same session.
The back of the card highlights Clarke's league-leading at bat total and his 20 stolen bases in 1968. His first two home runs, both grand slams, came off the Indians' Floyd Weaver on September 21, 1965, and the Athletics' Jack Aker (#612) almost a year later on July 16, 1966.
Accuracy Index: Clarke's card receives top marks for a non-expansion team with a score of five.
1969 Season
As mentioned above, this was Clarke's best season. He batted .285 with four home runs and 48 RBIs, while leading the league in at-bats (641), singles (146), putouts at second base (373), assists at second base (429) and double plays turned at second base (112). His double play partner was most often shortstop Gene Michael (#626). Clarke made 156 starts at second base, with Bobby Cox (#237) receiving the other six starts during a span in early July.
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First Mainstream Card: 1966 Topps #547
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (9): 1966-1974
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 2004 Upper Deck Yankees Classics #22
Total Non-Parallel Baseball Cards: 47 in the Beckett online database as of 9/16/23.
Sources:
Baseball Reference / SABR / Wikipedia
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