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John Gibson Clarkson (July 1, 1861 - February 4, 1909) was a right-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball from 1882-1894. more...

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Born in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Clarkson played for the Worcester Ruby Legs (1882), Chicago White Stockings (1884-1887), Boston Beaneaters (1888-1892), and Cleveland Spiders (1892-1894).

Career overview

Clarkson compiled a career 328-178 record, placing him twelfth on the MLB list of all-time wins. Clarkson pitched over 600 innings in a season twice and won a career-high 53 games in 1885. In MLB history, only Charles Radbourn has won more games in a single season (59 in 1884). In just five seasons from 1885-1889, Clarkson won 209 games.

Clarkson had a wide variety of curve balls and was considered to be a calculating, scientific pitcher who carefully analyzed every hitter's weaknesses. Hall of Fame hitter Sam Thompson said of Clarkson: “I faced him in scores of games and I can truthfully say that never in all that time did I get a pitch that came where I expected it or in the way in which I guessed it was coming.”

At the time Clarkson retired from the game, he was the winningest pitcher in National League history.

Aside from being a great pitcher, Clarkson was also a fair hitter. His 24 career home runs (in the deadball era) ranks 7th on the all-time MLB home run list for pitchers. He also had 232 career RBIs and 254 runs scored.

Total Baseball ranked Clarkson as the fourth best pitcher of all time behind Hall of Famers Cy Young, Christy Matthewson and Lefty Grove, though Bill James ranks him much lower, at No. 42, in his The New Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract.

Clarkson was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame upon election by the Veterans Committee in 1963.

Early years

Born in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Clarkson was one of five sons of a prosperous jeweler. Clakson had two brothers who were also major league pitchers: Dad Clarkson and Walter Clarkson. The three Clarkson brothers rank third in wins by brothers behind the Niekro and Perry brothers.

After attending business school and playing semipro ball, Clarkson signed as a free agent with the Worcester Ruby Legs of the National League in 1882. Clarkson played his first major league game at age 20 on May 2, 1882. He played in three games for the Ruby Legs, finishing with a 1-2 record in 24 innings. The Worcester team folded after the 1882 season, and Clarkson pitched in the minors the following two years.

Chicago White Stockings (1884-1887)

Chicago manager Cap Anson saw Clarkson pitching for Saginaw in the Northwest League in 1884. On August 24, 1884, the White Stockings puchased him from Saginaw.

Read more at Wikipedia.org