Six years ago on the blog I created a "missing" 1975 career-capper for former infielder Horace Clarke, who finished up a nice Big League career with a few dozen games as a San Diego Padre in 1974.
I
recently came across a nice Topps image of him during his San Diego
stint, which is much better than the original image I used, so I thought
it was a perfect time to re-do the card with a proper photo:
Clarke appeared in 42 games with the Padres after starting the year with
the New York Yankees, playing in 24 games before his relocation out
West.
That quarter season with the Padres was the only time Clarke played
for anyone other than the Yankees in his ten-year career, spanning 1965
to 1974.
Playing during those post-dynasty Yankees "dark days", Clarke
endured some lean years in the Bronx with guys like Bobby Murcer, Mel
Stottlemyre and Joe Pepitone.
A "typical" middle infielder of the era, Clarke was a nice-fielding/light-hitting player who had some nice years for the Yanks.
Between 1967 and 1973 Clarke, aka "Hoss", was the Yankees full-time
second baseman, topping 600 plate appearances each and every year.
His average hovered around the .250 mark, with a high of .285 in
1969 when he had perhaps his best season as a Major League player: 183
hits, 82 runs, 33 stolen bases and seven triples.
He retired after 1974 with a lifetime .256 average, with 1230 hits, 548 runs, 304 runs batted in and 151 stolen bases.
Oddly the man never won a Gold Glove even though he topped the
American League in putouts four times, double-plays turned twice,
fielding once and assists six times.
Just one of those decent guys that got lost in the Bronx before the
"Bronx Zoo" and a guy named Steinbrenner rolled in a short time later.
