Clark Griffith Marquee Hall of Fame 1946

b. November 20, 1869 · St. Louis Browns 1891, Boston Reds 1891, Chicago Colts 1893–1897, Chicago Orphans 1898–1900, Chicago White Sox 1901–1902, New York Highlanders 1903–1907, Cincinnati Reds 1909–1910, Washington Senators 1912–1914

He pitched twenty-one seasons and finished 237-146 with a 3.31 earned run average and 337 complete games. For Chicago he won at least twenty in six straight years, from 1894 through 1899. He led the National League in shutouts in 1900 and led the new American League in them the next season.

In 1901 he helped pull National League players across to that upstart league, then managed the Chicago White Sox to the new league's first pennant while going 24-7 on the mound himself. Hitters called him the Old Fox. He worked their weaknesses, changed speeds, and saved his best for the innings that needed it.

His arm went, but the managing did not stop: New York, Cincinnati, and then Washington, where he bought into the club and ran it until he died in 1955. The Hall of Fame elected him in 1946, while he was still the owner, for the pitching and the running of a franchise together.

Batting, season by season

Year	Team	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	SB	AVG
1891	BOS/STL	37	100	17	16	2	1	2	11	14	20	3	.160
1893	CHC	4	11	1	2	0	0	0	2	0	1	0	.182
1894	CHC	46	142	27	33	5	4	0	15	23	9	6	.232
1895	CHC	43	144	20	46	3	0	1	27	16	9	2	.319
1896	CHC	38	135	22	36	5	2	1	16	9	7	3	.267
1897	CHC	46	162	27	38	8	4	0	21	18	8	2	.235
1898	CHC	38	122	15	20	2	3	0	15	13	6	1	.164
1899	CHC	39	120	15	31	5	0	0	14	14	9	2	.258
1900	CHC	30	95	16	24	4	1	1	7	8	7	2	.253
1901	CHW	35	89	21	27	3	1	2	14	23	5	0	.303
1902	CHW	35	92	11	20	3	0	0	8	7	4	0	.217
1903	NYY	25	69	5	11	4	0	1	7	11	13	1	.159
1904	NYY	16	42	2	6	2	0	0	1	4	13	0	.143
1905	NYY	26	32	2	7	1	1	0	5	3	11	0	.219
1906	NYY	17	18	0	2	0	0	0	1	3	4	0	.111
1907	NYY	5	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
1909	CIN	1	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
1910	CIN	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	—
1912	WSH	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
1913	WSH	1	1	0	1	1	0	0	1	0	0	0	1.000
1914	WSH	1	1	0	1	1	0	0	1	0	0	0	1.000
Career	—	485	1380	202	321	49	17	8	166	166	126	22	.233

Pitching, season by season

Year	Team	W	L	G	GS	SV	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA
1891	BOS/STL	14	9	34	21	2	226.1	242	94	73	88	3.74
1893	CHC	1	2	4	2	0	19.2	24	11	5	9	5.03
1894	CHC	21	14	36	30	0	261.1	328	143	85	71	4.92
1895	CHC	26	14	42	41	0	353.0	434	154	91	79	3.93
1896	CHC	23	11	36	35	0	317.2	370	125	70	81	3.54
1897	CHC	21	18	41	38	1	343.2	410	142	86	102	3.72
1898	CHC	24	10	38	38	0	325.2	305	68	64	97	1.88
1899	CHC	22	14	38	38	0	319.2	329	99	65	73	2.79
1900	CHC	14	13	30	30	0	248.0	245	84	51	61	3.05
1901	CHW	24	7	35	30	1	266.2	275	79	50	67	2.67
1902	CHW	15	9	28	24	0	213.0	247	99	47	51	4.18
1903	NYY	14	11	25	24	0	213.0	201	64	33	69	2.70
1904	NYY	7	5	16	11	0	100.1	91	32	16	36	2.87
1905	NYY	9	6	25	7	1	101.2	82	19	15	46	1.68
1906	NYY	2	2	17	2	2	59.2	58	20	15	16	3.02
1907	NYY	0	0	4	0	0	8.1	15	8	6	5	8.64
1909	CIN	0	1	1	1	0	6.0	11	4	2	3	6.00
1912	WSH	0	0	1	0	0	0.0	1	1	0	0	—
1913	WSH	0	0	1	0	0	1.0	1	0	0	0	0.00
1914	WSH	0	0	1	0	1	1.0	1	0	0	1	0.00
Career	—	237	146	453	372	8	3385.2	3670	1246	774	955	3.31

On this day & linked events

1869

Born November 20, 1869

Clear Creek, MO, USA

1955

Died October 27, 1955

1891

Major-league debut: Clark Griffith

Clark Griffith made a major-league debut on April 11, 1891.

1914

Final major-league game: Clark Griffith

Clark Griffith played a final major-league game on October 7, 1914.

Image: National Photo Company Collection, public domain