Nig Clarke

Nig Clarke
Born: (1882-12-15)December 15, 1882 Amherstburg, Ontario
Died: June 15, 1949(1949-06-15) (aged 66) River Rouge, Michigan
Batted: Left Threw: Right
debut
April 26, 1905, for the Detroit Tigers
Last appearance
April 24, 1920, for the Pittsburgh Pirates
Career statistics
Batting average	.254
Home runs	6
RBI	127
Stats at Baseball Reference
Teams
Detroit Tigers (1905) Cleveland Naps (1905-1910) St. Louis Browns (1911) Philadelphia Phillies (1919) Pittsburgh Pirates (1920)
Career highlights and awards
Clarke hit 8 home runs in a Texas League Baseball game on June 15, 1902 (disputed)

Jay Justin "Nig" Clarke (December 15, 1882 in Amherstburg, Ontario – June 15, 1949 in River Rouge, Michigan) was a professional baseball player in Major League Baseball. He is best known for, in 1902 playing for Texas League's Corsicana Oil Citys, going 8 for 8 with 8 home runs. The success there did not turn into success in MLB, as in his nine-year career he hit a comparatively few 6 home runs and drove in 127 runs. Clarke died on the 47th anniversary of his historic eight-homer game, which many people believe to be more than a coincidence.

Texas League career

Eight-Home run game

On June 15, 1902, while playing for the Corsicana Oil Citys of the Texas League, Nig allegedly hit eight home runs against the Texarkana Casketmakers in a game that Corsicana won by the remarkable score of 51–3. The home runs were said to be helped by the stadium they played in that day because Corsicana's blue laws forbade Sunday baseball in Oil City Park, the regular home of Corsicana. The game was played in nearby Ennis, in a facility that years later Nig estimated was only 210 feet to right field. At the time, it was considered the #2 most famous feat in Minor League Baseball history. Unfortunately, the most famous Minor League Baseball feat was not recorded. Amelia Clarke, the wife of Nig Clarke, remarked about her husband's call-up to the majors by saying: "He burst onto the scene already a legend."

Dispute

Almost immediately, the home run total was subject to controversy. In a newspaper account, repeated in a column by The Dallas Morning News' Frank X. Tolbert in 1965, Corsicana manager and first baseman Mike O'Connor was alleged to have made the totals much larger than they were. The official account reads:

"The official scorer lost his head, but the foxy manager of the Oil City boys has discovered a tabulated record which goes as the official figures. He realizes the benefits in swelling batting averages ..."

Perfect game

Clarke's other claim to fame was as the catcher of a perfect game on October 2, 1908 for Addie Joss. It was only the fourth perfect game in Major League Baseball history, and Nig Clarke later remarked, "I wish it would have been the last."

The nickname

In the first half of the 20th Century, before the game was integrated, ball players with a dark complexion were sometimes nicknamed "Nig." [1] [2] In addition to Clarke, the following other major league players bore the nickname: Johnny Beazley (1941–49), Joe Berry (1921–22), Bobby Bragan (1940–48), Nig Cuppy (1892–1901), Nig Fuller (1902), Johnny Grabowski (1923–31), Nig Lipscomb (1937), Charlie Niebergall (1921–24), Nig Perrine (1907), and Frank Smith (1904–15). However, most Americans consider the nickname "Nig" to be offensive in polite conversation today.

External links

• Career statistics from Baseball Reference, or Baseball Reference (Minors)