Lou Clinton
From BR Bullpen
Luciean Louis Clinton
- Bats Right, Throws Right
- Height 6' 1", Weight 185 lb.
- School Northern Oklahoma College
- Debut April 22, 1960
- Final Game April 30, 1967
- Born October 13, 1937 in Ponca City, OK USA
- Died December 6, 1997 in Wichita, KS USA
[edit] Biographical Information
Lou Clinton played eight years in the big leagues, hitting 65 home runs.
Clinton was born in Ponca City, OK, the only major leaguer (through 2008) to do so other than Clint Sodowsky. As a youngster he played in the midget leagues, Cub Scouts and the Conoco leagues. He was a high school star and briefly attended Northern Oklahoma College.
He signed with the Boston Red Sox in 1955 and played in their minor league system through 1961, although most of 1960 was spent in the majors. He had some home run power with a peak of 21 homers for Seattle in 1961. While he was with Minneapolis in 1958, the team won the Junior World Series.
Clinton appeared in 96 games for the 1960 Red Sox at age 22. He was the regular right fielder for much of the season while Ted Williams, in his last major league season, was the regular left fielder. Clinton was the youngest regular on a team whose average age was 29, and his batting average was lowest among the regulars, so he ended up back in the minors for most of 1961. Jackie Jensen came back in 1961 to play right field in his last major league year.
Lou became the regular right fielder again in 1962, and this time had a good year, hitting .294 with a .540 slugging percentage. His OPS+ of 133 beat out both Pete Runnels, who won the batting championship, and the young Carl Yastrzemski, who was a couple years younger than Clinton.
The next year Lou had his peak in home runs with 22 but his average dropped to .232 (the team average was .252). He was traded in mid-1964 for Lee Thomas and spent the rest of 1964, as well as most of 1965, with the Angels. Selected off waivers in September 1965, he appeared in just one game with the 1965 Athletics before the selection was voided and he was returned to the Angels. The 1965 Indians then immediately selected him off waivers and he played 12 games with them.
In the off-season the Indians traded him to the 1966 New York Yankees, and he finished out his major league career with the Yanks in 1966-67. The 1966 Yankees finished tenth in the 1966 American League in spite of having Mickey Mantle, Roger Maris and other stars, and Clinton played a lot in right field where he and Maris had approximately the same offensive stats (Clinton posted .220/.288/.403 in this dead-ball era year while Maris had .233/.307/.382).
Although he appeared in a few games with the 1967 Yankees, Clinton spent most of 1967 in the minors with San Diego, in his last professional season. Veterans Jim Gentile and Ed Roebuck were also on the San Diego team.
After baseball he ran a company in Wichita, KS.
He is sometimes called "Lu".
One source: Lou Clinton obituary.
