1864
Born July 24, 1864
Philadelphia, PA, USA
Jack Clements Marquee
b. July 24, 1864 · Philadelphia Keystones 1884, Philadelphia Quakers 1884–1889, Philadelphia Phillies 1890–1897, St. Louis Browns 1898, Cleveland Spiders 1899, Boston Beaneaters 1900
Left-handed catchers are almost unheard of, and nobody has caught more than a few hundred games that way except Clements, who caught 1,076. He also wore a chest protector before most catchers did, which the newspapers of the 1880s found worth mentioning.
Seventeen seasons gave him 1,231 hits, 226 doubles, 77 home runs, 687 runs batted in and a .287 average. He hit 17 home runs in 1893 with 80 runs batted in, and he hit .394 in 1895 in 88 games, which would have led the league if he had played enough.
He spent thirteen years with the Philadelphia National League club and caught for the outfield of Ed Delahanty, Sam Thompson and Billy Hamilton. No Hall of Fame ballot ever listed him. He died in 1941, at seventy-six.
Batting, season by season
| Year | Team | G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | SB | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1884 | PHI/PHK | 50 | 207 | 40 | 57 | 13 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 13 | 8 | 0 | .275 |
| 1885 | PHI | 52 | 188 | 14 | 36 | 11 | 3 | 1 | 14 | 2 | 30 | 0 | .191 |
| 1886 | PHI | 54 | 185 | 15 | 38 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 11 | 7 | 34 | 4 | .205 |
| 1887 | PHI | 66 | 246 | 48 | 69 | 13 | 7 | 1 | 47 | 9 | 24 | 7 | .280 |
| 1888 | PHI | 86 | 326 | 26 | 80 | 8 | 4 | 1 | 32 | 10 | 36 | 3 | .245 |
| 1889 | PHI | 78 | 310 | 51 | 88 | 17 | 1 | 4 | 35 | 29 | 21 | 3 | .284 |
| 1890 | PHI | 97 | 381 | 64 | 120 | 23 | 8 | 7 | 74 | 45 | 30 | 10 | .315 |
| 1891 | PHI | 107 | 423 | 58 | 131 | 29 | 4 | 4 | 75 | 43 | 19 | 3 | .310 |
| 1892 | PHI | 109 | 402 | 50 | 106 | 25 | 6 | 8 | 76 | 43 | 40 | 7 | .264 |
| 1893 | PHI | 94 | 376 | 64 | 107 | 20 | 3 | 17 | 80 | 39 | 29 | 3 | .285 |
| 1894 | PHI | 48 | 171 | 26 | 60 | 6 | 5 | 3 | 36 | 26 | 9 | 6 | .351 |
| 1895 | PHI | 88 | 322 | 64 | 127 | 27 | 2 | 13 | 75 | 22 | 7 | 3 | .394 |
| 1896 | PHI | 57 | 184 | 35 | 66 | 5 | 7 | 5 | 45 | 17 | 14 | 2 | .359 |
| 1897 | PHI | 55 | 185 | 18 | 44 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 36 | 12 | 3 | 3 | .238 |
| 1898 | STL | 99 | 335 | 39 | 86 | 19 | 5 | 3 | 41 | 21 | 13 | 1 | .257 |
| 1899 | CLV | 4 | 12 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .250 |
| 1900 | BSN | 16 | 42 | 6 | 13 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 10 | 3 | 0 | 0 | .310 |
| Career | — | 1160 | 4295 | 619 | 1231 | 226 | 60 | 77 | 687 | 341 | 317 | 55 | .287 |
On this day & linked events
1941
Died May 23, 1941
1884
Major-league debut: Jack Clements
Jack Clements made a major-league debut on April 22, 1884.
1900
Final major-league game: Jack Clements
Jack Clements played a final major-league game on October 2, 1900.