Ed Clark
From BR Bullpen
Edmund C. Clark
- Bats Unknown, Throws Unknown
- Debut July 4, 1886
- Final Game July 4, 1886
- Born 1863
- Died November 7, 1927 in Hampton, VA USA
[edit] Biographical Information
Ed Clark pitched in one game in the American Association for the 1886 Philadelphia Athletics. Many sources also credit him with a game pitched for the Columbus Solons in 1891, but that record belongs to Dad Clarke. He was likely born in Cincinnati, OH, circa 1863.
After his playing career, he led a storied life to say the least. Around 1892, he abandoned his home in Cincinnati, where he had a wife and two sons, and disappeared for a while (his wife, Maggie Goodall even listed herself as a widow). In 1898, he enlisted in the US Army's 18th infantry company and fought in the Spanish-American War in the Philippines. He returned to the USA three years later, but then found work as the foreman of a mule transport team in South Africa. There, he tried to join the rebel Boer army but was denounced by a co-worker and ended up in a British prison. He escaped and made his way back to the USA and briefly served as an umpire in the Southern League and the Virginia-North Carolina League. He continued to make regular trips to South Africa to work as a muleteer in the off-season. The last ascertained trace of him is found in San Antonio, TX in 1908, where he was running a saloon. US Army records indicate that he died in 1927 and is buried in Arlington National Cemetery.
[edit] Source
- "Ed Clark", in Bill Carle, ed.: Biographical Research Committee Report, SABR, March/April 2007, p. 3.
- "Ed Clark Found", in Bill Carle, ed.: Biographical Research Committee Report, SABR, January/February 2009, p. 1.
