Horace Clarke

American baseball player (1939–2020)

Horace Meredith Clarke (June 2, 1939August 5, 2020) was an American Virgin Islander baseball second baseman who played ten seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB). He played for the New York Yankees and the San Diego Padres from 1965 to 1974. He was a switch hitter who threw right handed. Clarke was signed as an amateur free agent by the New York Yankees in 1958 and played for seven of their minor league affiliates until 1965, when the Yankees promoted him to the major leagues. After spending seven more seasons with the organization, he was traded to the San Diego Padres in 1974. He played his last game on September 15 that year.

Clarke was born in Frederiksted, on the island of Saint Croix in the United States Virgin Islands, on June 2, 1939. He was the youngest of six children of Dennis and Vivian Woods Clarke. He had one brother (Verne) and four sisters (Dina, Holly, Annette, and Letty). He first played softball, since there were no Little Leagues in the territory at the time. He reportedly became a switch hitter because the field was oriented in a way that hitting from the right side would result in the baseball landing in the ocean. He attended Christiansted High School. In his rookie season of 1966, Clarke, sharing shortstop duties with Tom Tresh after Tony Kubek's retirement before the start of the season, batted .266 with six home runs and 28 runs batted in (RBI). on June 4, Sonny Siebert on June 19 and, Joe Niekro on July 2). He and Joe Mauer are the only hitters to break up three no hit bids in the ninth inning. That season, Clarke made 732 plate appearances (batting 686 times officially). As a fielder, though, one major criticism of Clarke was that he would eschew turning the double play if the runner at second was approaching. Though it was rare for a baserunner to take him out with a slide, Clarke would often hold onto the baseball instead of throwing to first to complete the double play. at his home in Laurel, Maryland. He was 81, and suffered from complications of Alzheimer's disease.