Ed Clark

From BR Bullpen

Edmund C. Clark

Bats Unknown, Throws Unknown

Debut July 4, 1886
Final Game August 8, 1891
Born 1863
Died November 7, 1927 in Hampton, VA USA

[edit] Biographical Information

Ed Clark pitched in two games in the American Association, one for the 1886 Philadelphia Athletics and one for the Columbus Solons in 1891. 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.: March/April 2007 Report, Biographical Research Committee, SABR, Cleveland, OH, p. 3.
"Ed Clark Found", in Bill Carle, ed.: January/February 2009 Report, Biographical Research Committee, SABR, Cleveland, OH, p. 1.