Skip to main content

Sunday School: History Lesson 12

Most avid fans of baseball will know that there are certain positions on a field that left handers are not welcomed to play. The main reason it's less than ideal for lefty arms to play shortstop or third base is that the fielder must turn his body to throw to first base. The extra time would give a runner an extra step, in most cases. The same applies to second base as well. The catcher position is another one where lefties are not very welcome. Estimating, going back to the 1800's, more than 8,000 players have played catcher in the major leagues. Just 33 of them have been left handed. Of that small group, 10 played in only one game (likely an emergency situation) and 16 of them played in five games or less, plenty of which were players better known to play other positions. Of the 33 lefty catchers, 10 played in 50 or more games, only 5 played in more than 100, and just three played more than 200. One of those three was John J. "Jack" Clements, who caught most of his games with the Phillies.

Jack Clements was a big league catcher from 1884-1897. He holds the record for games caught by a left handed player, at 1,073. Clements was even around in the days before the Phillies had that name, and were known as the Quakers.

Clements was one of the best catchers of his era. Defensively, he led the league in putouts three times, and in double plays and fielding percentage once each. With the bat in his hands, Clements finished in the top 4 in batting average 3 times. His .394 batting average in 1895 still stands as the highest single season average by a catcher.

During the 1890 season, Clements made some waves as he told manager Harry Wright that, after catching both games of back to back double headers, that he would only catch one game of the next day's double header. The team only had one catcher at the time and Clements was overworked. Supposedly, Wright then cancelled one game of the twin bill to appease his catcher.

Earlier that season, Wright fell ill with temporary blindness, and Jack Clements served as player-manager over a 19 game stretch, winning 13 of those games.

Clements, the Phils' regular catcher in 9 of his 13 full years on the team, also filled in at other positions. He played 41 games in the outfield, 18 games at first base, and 4 games each at shortstop and third base. Yes, shortstop and third base too! Jack Clements broke all the rules.



Comments

mvr joe said…
hot damn, nifty info as awlays from the ballz man. Clements sounds awesome. Damn interesting man.

Popular posts from this blog

Eric B Needs to be Cut (and My Name is Rakim)

While the Phillies are on a hot streak this month, one player on the team is not. Eric Bruntlett is 1-for-12 in July. Since the start of May, Bruntlett's apex in batting average has been .167 on June 14th. Bruntlett's ineptitude can be tolerated no longer. Get rid of this guy NOW! Eric B. is the 2009 Endy Chavez. Remember Endy...the guy who in 2005 managed just 2 hits in his final 42 games played as a Phillie? That is about the sort of output the Phillies are getting from Bruntlett, and it's time to fix this void. Julio Lugo was designated for assignment last week by the Red Sox and is expected to become a free agent. The Metropolitans are rumored to be interested. Why wouldn't the Phillies be interested in a guy who could surely outhit Bruntlett? Lugo was hitting .284 through 37 games played this season with Boston. Suspended Lehigh Valley IronPig Pablo Ozuna is eligible to return next Wednesday. Ozuna is batting .294 through 51 games at triple A. Miguel Cairo is also...

5th spot, Wall, Old timers, Links

The race for the Phillies' fifth starter spot is still on. While it's not fully fair to compare Grapefruit League stats, when some of the pitchers have had "B game" and scrimmage outings mixed in, Kyle Kendrick and Carlos Carrasco look to be falling behind Chan Ho Park and "Jay" Happ. Happ added to his solid Grapefruit League stats (2.45 ERA, 1.09 WHIP in 4 games) today against the Rays. Pitching coach Rich Dubee had been displeased with Kendrick even before he surrendered 8 earned runs in 3 innings of work yesterday against the Braves. Park has been working on improving his change up, with (Coach) Jamie Moyer. Park noticed Moyer's location control on his change, so he sought out Moyer to teach him the grip and positioning of the ball. Moyer, of course, feels good about helping anyone on the Phils' staff. Park has been coached by greats like Nolan Ryan with the Rangers and Sandy Koufax with the Dodgers, so Moyer is in great company. Park is working h...

Yankees Fans Misled By Pepsi Promotion

**** Today, New York Yankees fans attended a Pepsi promotion in Times Square hoping for chances to win opening day tickets to the new stadium, but the tickets, which were difficult to track down due to poor organization on Pepsi's part, were actually for a game in June. Furthermore, the 250 pairs that were promised were actually only 100 pairs. The fans, who were made to sprint through traffic over multiple city blocks when locations for the promotion changed, quickly turned against the soda brand by pooring out their beverages and chanting anti-Pepsi phrases. Yankees fans are even threatening a boycott of Pepsi. An appearance by Yankee great Goose Gossage could not even settle the angry mob, as he had to be whisked away, as a precaution, according to the Daily News . Ooo , I'd hate to see what "the worst fans in sports" (Philadelphia fans) would have done to their free Pepsi cans and beloved reliever in that situation. Because this happened in a non-Philly city, th...