Remembering Jack Clark’s Years In San Francisco

During the 1978 baseball season, Jack Clark established himself as a consistent power source for the San Francisco Giants. He had scary power, and for those fans who had been following his progress though the minor leagues on the his way to the big club, it was no surprise. Right from the start, Clark was a home run hitter, as well as a guy who could be counted on to deliver the big hit at key moments.

In 1974, while playing for Fresno during his second year in professional baseball, Clark led the California League with 117 RBI’s and 254 total bases. He followed up in 1975 with 23 home runs for Lafayette, which was good enough for a tie for the Texas League’s home run title. Another solid season followed in 1976 when Clark played for Phoenix, and then he was up to the majors for good.

Most people don’t remember that when Clark came up he was a base stealing threat, swiping twelve in 1977, fifteen in 1978 and eleven in 1979. He was very good in the field, and gave the team some options on defense because of his versatility. Although primarily a right fielder, he played the other two outfield positions for the team. Some of you may be surprised to learn that he played four games at third base and six games at first base during his ten years with the Giants.

There was an obvious down side for a power hitter who played in Candlestick Park, and at heart, Clark didn’t much care for that stadium. A lot of the balls he hit would have been home runs in other ball parks, but at Candlestick Park they were just long outs. We wouldn’t be giving the whole story if we didn’t mention his exceptional, two-day power burst that occurred at Pittsburgh during the 1983 season. On May 28th, he clobbered two homers and knocked in five runs to propel the Giants to a 10 to 5 win. The next day he mashed two more home runs including a grand slam as the Giants beat the Pirates once again, this time by a 9 to 5 margin. I’m sure the Pirates and their fans were thrilled to see the Giants leave town after that demonstration of slugging.

While he played in San Francisco, Clark was a consistent power threat who provided the long ball, hit over .300 in 1978 (.306) and 1984 (.320), and took walks, which gave him a healthy on base percentage. After the 1984 season, Clark was traded to the St. Louis Cardinals. I’m fairly certain he didn’t miss Candlestick after he left.

Among Jack Clark’s cards from his years as a Giant, the 1984 Topps issue, shown on the lower left, is considered by many to be one of his best. The team’s jerseys had a traditional look, which many favored. The bold “SF” is uncluttered, and in its understated way, quite elegant. The card has a handsome layout. The bold team name on the left makes it easy for collectors who sort their cards by team. There are two pictures, with the smaller, portrait shot providing a nice contrast to the larger one. Clark’s 1980 Topps card appears here as well, below on the right, to show another jersey that he wore.

Grubby Glove would like to thank our teammate, Rich Van Winkle, for requesting a post about Jack Clark’s San Francisco years. Rich, we hope we did your man justice.