WordWeb defines mediocre as (1) moderate to inferior in qualty; (2) lacking exceptional quality or ability; or (3) fair to middling in quality. This morning I may just as quickly have arrived at three ways of looking at my PC with its wonderful VISTA system, but I’m not. I’m really talking about an ancient baseball pitcher whose ability to rise above what his record said about his mediocrity to be the man on the mound in critical games was a critical memory for my once intense days as a kid fan of the Houston Buffs.
Such a rise-above-it-all man was righthander Black Mike Clark of the 1951 Houston Buffs. You’ve probably read my reference to him in an earlier piece I did on the ’51 club. Mke acquired his nickname from Buffs radio broadcaster Loel Passe, who picked up on the black glare and matching mound personality that burst forth from the deeply receding dark eyes of this mn who took control in so many critical games.
Mike was a stopper. Mike could start a game and stop a losing streak as easily as he could come in late and stop a rally. He had a good fastball, a tricky slow-breaking pitch, an ability to climb the ladder and work the corners, and a physical presence on the mound that just exuded that old gunfighter confidence that some guys show the world about themselves. Mariano Rivera has it today. Brad Lidge does not. Does that paint the picture clearly enough?
At crucial moments, Mike Clark was our Mariano Rivera.
Of course, back then, I wasn’t looking at Mike Clark as rising above the norm whenever he came to the Buffs’ needed rescue. At age 13, I just thought he was great – not good as Mizell, but great in his own way, all the same.
Clark only posted a 10-7 win-loss mark in 1951, but his ERA was a very nice and light 2.78. I don’t have the information at my finger tips, but I’m willng to bet you that most, if not all his ten wins came in crucial, killer games, while most, if not all, the seven losses came in games that really didn’t seem to matter at the time.
Mike Clark’s second year with the 1952 Buffs was even more successful personally. At 9-5, with a 1.90 ERA, Clark was now pitching for a last place club, but still fnding the inspiration to give it his best shot. Clark’s ’52 Buff year came on the heels of an early season demotion from the parent club St. Louis Cardinals after he posted a 2-0 record there that unfortunately came with a 6.04 ERA.
In 1953, Mike Clark was again returned to Houston after going 1-0 with a 4.79 ERA at St. Louis. That second return of Mike Clark to the minors made me wonder: “What’s a guy have to do to be good enough to stick in the big leagues?” This answer came back in my own mind: “I guess he has to be a lot more like Wilmer “Vinegar Bend” Mizell.” That made sense. Even I knew that Mike Clark was no Wilmer Mizell.
Mike Clark was only 2-2 with a 6.62 ERA for the floundering ’53 Buffs. The next season he went 13-9 with a 4.29 ERA for the champion ’54 club, but part of that record was achieved after the Buffs traded him to Beaumont, another Texas League rival.
Clark hung around the Texas League for another four seasons (1955-58) at Beaumont and Austin. He started the ’59 season with Dallas, one of the newly promoted Texas cities now playing in the AAA American Association. Dallas dealt him back to Houston, the other new AAA club, before season’s end, but Mike Clark’s career was done in ’59. With both Dallas and Houston, we was only 1-3 with a 3.66 ERA to retire upon. At age 37, Clark was done.
Signed by the St. Louis Cardinals as an amateur free agent prior to the 1940 season, an 18-year old Michael John Clark (DOB: 2-12-22) of Camden, New Jersey broke into pro ball with Class D Hamilton of the 1940 PONY League, where he spotted his first year with a not-much-to-write-home-about mark of 3 wins, 4 losses, and an inflated ERA of 7.77. He spent the heart years of World War II (1943-45) in the military, but he never gave up his baseball dream. Over the course of his 17-year career (1940-42, 1946-59), Mike Clark compiled a minor league record of 163 wins, 147 losses, and an ERA of 3.56. As a major leaguer, he finished undefeated at 3 wins and 0 losses, and with an ERA of 5.31.
According to Baseball Reference.Com, Mike Clark is still alive. And I think he still lives in New Jersey. At age 87, he remains one of the few unbeaten pitchers in major league history.
Tags: Houston Buffs
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