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Line 39: Playing for ] Clark was noted for his oft-imitated "sweet swing," said to be among the best in baseball. In {{by|1985}}, ] named Clark an All-American and he later won the ] from ].   Will went to a specialist food college, where Liam taught him how to eat a pie in 3 seconds. ==Major leagues== ===San Francisco Giants (1986&ndash;93)=== Clark was drafted with the second overall pick in the {{by|1985}} draft by the ]. <ref name="library"></ref> Clark displayed his trademark flair for the dramatic during his first professional plate appearances. In his minor league debut, Clark homered on his first swing against ]. Called up by the Giants a year later, in his first major league at bat on ], {{by|1986}}, Clark debuted with another ]&mdash;this time off ] member ].<ref name="library"/> (He debuted at age 22 wearing the number 22 playing first base while the Giants had traded away another player the previous season named ] who now played first base and also wore the number 22 and who had just hit 22 home runs for the team where Will ended his career.) An elbow injury cost Clark 47 games in his rookie season.<ref name="library"/> Clark finished his rookie year with a respectable .287 batting average.   ].]] Over the next six seasons Clark would establish himself as the premier first baseman in the National League. In his first full season in {{by|1987}}, Clark had a .308 batting average and a career high 35 home runs as the Giants captured the National League West crown. Although overlooked for All-Star status in ], Clark was voted the starting first baseman for the NL All-Star team every season from ] through ]. In {{by|1988}}, Clark was the first Giants' player to drive in 90 or more runs in consecutve seasons since ] in {{by|1975}}-].   His finest season was in {{by|1989}}, when he batted .333 (losing the batting title to ] on the final day of the season) with 111 RBIs. Clark finished second in the NL Most Valuable Player voting to Giants teammate ].   In {{by|1989}}, Clark and the Giants defeated the ] in the ]. In Game 1, Clark hit a solo home run in the third inning and followed with a ] off ]<ref></ref> in the fourth inning. Prior to Clark's at bat, Cubs' catcher ] went to the mound to discuss with Maddux how to pitch to Clark. From the on-deck circle, Clark watched the conversation and read Maddux's lips saying "fastball high, inside." The first pitch was a fastball high and inside which Clark sent into the right field bleachers. Following this, pitchers began to cover their mouths with their gloves when having conversations on the pitchers mound. (The '']'''s front page the next day paid tribute to his performance with a headline of "Clark's night on Addison.")<ref>], October 5, 1989, page A1</ref>   In Game 5 of the series, Clark faced Cubs closer ] with the score tied 1-1 in the bottom of the eighth inning. After an epic at-bat, with several two strike foul balls keeping the duel alive for several minutes, Clark singled to center field to drive in two runs, breaking the tie, eventually sending the Giants to the World Series. Clark's efforts, which included a .650 ] and two home runs, resulted in him being named MVP for the series. The Giants went on to face the ] in the ], but were swept in 4 games. In the only World Series appearance of his career, Clark failed to contribute significantly at the plate, with no runs batted in and a .250 batting average.   Clark had become a very durable player since his rookie year injury, setting a San Francisco record with 320 consecutive games played from September {{by|1987}} through August {{by|1989}}. <ref name="library"/> However, a string of injuries cut into his playing time in the early 1990s and diminished his production. Clark drove in just 73 runs in {{by|1992}} and {{by|1993}}, the lowest total since his rookie year. <ref name="br"></ref>   Clark's contract with the Giants expired after the 1993 season. Although Clark was a popular star and a fixture in San Francisco baseball, the Giants were unwilling to offer a long-term contract to a player with recent injury problems coming off two mediocre seasons.   ===Texas Rangers (1994&ndash;98)=== After {{by|1993}} season, Clark signed with the ], near his home in ]. Clark helped the Rangers reach the playoffs in {{by|1996}} and {{by|1998}}, but in both years the team was defeated in the ] by the ].   {{see also|1996 American League Division Series|1998 American League Division Series}}   ===Baltimore Orioles and St. Louis Cardinals (1999&ndash;2000)=== Clark joined the ] for the {{by|1999}} season, and spent nearly two years with the club, but was plagued by injuries. The lone bright spot of those seasons was collecting his 2000th hit on ] versus the ].   Clark was traded to the ] near the end of the {{by|2000}} season, acquired in part to play in place of the injured ]. A rejuvenated Clark (.964 ]) helped the Cardinals reach the playoffs, (which included hitting a home run in each of his first four games with his new club), and the team swept the ] in the ]. In the ], the Cardinals faced the ], who would go on to win the ], and lost in five games. Clark performed better in these playoffs (.345 BA) than in recent years. After announcing that his retirement would come when the Cardinals' playoff run ended, Clark went 1 for 3 in his final game on October 16, {{by|2000}}.   ===Statistics=== Clark's regular season stats: {| class="wikitable" style="font-size: 90%; text-align: right;" |- !]!!]!!]!!]!!]!!]!!]!!]!!]!!]!!]!!]!!]!!]!!]!!]!!]!!] |- |1976||7173||1186||2176||440||47||284||1205||67||48||1205||1190||.303||.384||.497||3562||13||59 |}   ==Legacy==

Revision as of 15:10, 1 January 2009

For other uses, see the baseball player.

Template:Infobox MLB retired William Nuschler Clark, Jr. (born March 13, 1964 in Template:City-state) is a former first baseman in Major League Baseball best known for his play with the San Francisco Giants from 1986 to 1993. He was recognized by his peers as being one of the best clutch players of his time, and possessed a fiery intensity. He earned the nicknames of "Will the Thrill" (a name given to him by his classmates at Jesuit High School in New Orleans, where he played both varsity baseball and varsity basketball) as well as simply "The Thrill" and "The Natural" because of his natural gifts as a player. Clark was inducted into the College Baseball Hall of Fame in 2006. He was inducted into the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame in August, 2008. He is a direct descendant of William Clark of the Lewis and Clark Expedition. He currently works in the Arizona Diamondbacks front office.

Olympics

Main article: Baseball at the 1984 Summer Olympics

Clark played a starring role for the 1984 U.S. Olympic team that yielded such future major leaguers as Barry Larkin and Mark McGwire. During the five-game Olympic tournament, Clark batted .429 with three home runs and eight RBIs.

College

Playing for Mississippi State University Clark was noted for his oft-imitated "sweet swing," said to be among the best in baseball. In 1985, The Sporting News named Clark an All-American and he later won the Golden Spikes Award from USA Baseball.

Will went to a specialist food college, where Liam taught him how to eat a pie in 3 seconds.

Legacy

On the basis of his performance between 1987 and 1991, Clark appeared to be headed for a Hall of Fame career. Clark did rebound from his mediocre 1993 season to turn in productive years in the American League, but he never was the "impact player" that he had been in his earlier years with the Giants.

Clark's final statistics of 284 home runs, 1205 RBIs, and a .303 batting average (.881 OPS) underscore an excellent baseball career. However, the ten baseball players that Baseball-Reference ranks him as "most similar" are Edgar Martínez, Cecil Cooper, John Olerud, Paul O'Neill, Bob Johnson, Ellis Burks, Don Mattingly, Bernie Williams, Reggie Smith, and Jim Bottomley. Of those ten, only Bottomley is in the Hall of Fame (Bottomly played from 1922 until 1937),. In 2006 Hall of Fame balloting, Clark received only 23 votes, 4.4% of the total, which withdrew him from consideration from future ballots as he did not receive the required 5% threshold to stay on.

Honors

  • National League All-Star 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993
  • American League All-Star 1994
  • MVP of the 1989 National League Championship Series
  • Two-time National League Silver Slugger Award at First base (1989 and 1991).
  • 1991 National League Gold Glove Award at First Base.
  • On July 4, 2006, Clark was inducted into the College Baseball Hall of Fame in its inaugural class.
  • Inducted into the Bay Area Sports Hall of Fame in 2007.

See also

References

  1. BaseballEvolution.com Hall of Fame
  2. http://www.collegebaseballfoundation.org/story.php?storyID=3
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference br was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. Jim Bottomley Statistics - Baseball-Reference.com
  5. Will Clark Statistics - The Baseball Cube

External links

Preceded byBobby Bonilla
Von Hayes
Pedro Guerrero
Barry Bonds 		National League Player of the Month
June, 1988
May, 1989
September, 1989
August, 1991 		Succeeded byTony Gwynn
Howard Johnson
Bobby Bonilla
Howard Johnson
Preceded byAndre Dawson National League RBI Champion
1988 		Succeeded byKevin Mitchell
Preceded byOrel Hershiser National League Championship Series MVP
1989 		Succeeded byRob Dibble and Randy Myers
Golden Spikes Award
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National League First Baseman Gold Glove Award
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