Never a star, the U.S. Virgin Islands native was viewed as a mediocre player in a mediocre era of Yankees baseball
The career .256 hitter never hit more than six homers or drove in even 50 runs, but he played a good second base and could run. His best season was 1969 when he batted a career-best .285 with four homers and 48 RBI.
“I know I got a lot of criticism for playing Horace Clarke as much as I did, but he was a lot better ballplayer than anyone gave him credit for,” late 1960s Yankees manager Ralph Houk once said. “He did a lot of things good but nothing great, and that was his problem. Besides, I didn’t have anyone else!”
Clarke led the American League in singles twice (1967, 1969, led the league in double plays turned by a second baseman twice (1969, 197) and led AL second baseman in fielding percentage once (1967). He played his entire career for the Yankees until his final season when he played 42 games with the San Diego Padres after being sold in late May for $25,000.
Clarke also made some history. He’s the only big leaguer whose first two career homers were grand slams and he’s one of two players to break up three no-hitters in the ninth inning, although former Twins catcher Joe Mauer. Clarke did it in a span of 29 days in 1970 when he did it to Kansas City Royals left-hander Jim Rooker on June 4, Boston Red Sox right-hander Sonny Siebert on June 19 and Detroit Tigers righty Joe Niekro on July 2.
A natural right-handed hitter, he taught himself how to switch-hit around the age of 13 while playing softball games very close to the ocean
“As kids we formed teams and played wherever we could, usually on Saturdays,” Clarke once said. “If the older players were using the ballpark, we were relegated to a small area by the ocean. Almost all of us were right-handed. And since we were strong enough to hit the ball into the water, we switched sides at the plate, and everybody batted left-handed so we wouldn’t lose the ball.”
Clarke was signed by the Yankees at age 17, and he honed his skills as a minor leaguer playing in the Puerto Rican Winter League, where he got at-bats off the likes of Hall of Fame pitcher Bob Gibson and Denny McLain. In May 1965, Clarke became the fourth of 14 players from the U.S. Virgin Islands to play a big-league game.
Following his playing career, Clarke worked as a baseball instructor for the Virgin Islands department of recreation and as a part-time scout for the Kansas City Royals.
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