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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

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

• Top 500 home run hitters of all time
• List of major league players with 2,000 hits
• List of Major League Baseball players with 400 doubles
• List of Major League Baseball players with 1000 runs
• List of Major League Baseball players with 1000 RBI
• List of Major League Baseball RBI champions
• List of Major League Baseball runs scored champions

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

• Career statistics from Baseball Reference, or Fangraphs
• Baseball library entry
• Baseball Evolution Hall of Fame - Player Profile
• Thrill22.com - The Will Clark Gallery

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• Living people
• LIVING deaths
• Major League Baseball first basemen
• San Francisco Giants players
• Baltimore Orioles players
• St. Louis Cardinals players
• Texas Rangers players
• National League All-Stars
• American League All-Stars
• Jesuit High School alumni
• Major League Baseball players from Louisiana
• Golden Spikes Award winners
• Gold Glove Award winners
• Mississippi State Bulldogs baseball players
• Baseball players at the 1984 Summer Olympics
• Olympic baseball players of the United States
• National League RBI champions
• People from New Orleans, Louisiana
• Mississippi State University alumni
• Parents of people on the autistic spectrum