John Clarkson

⭐ Hall of Fame 1963

Born: 7/1/1861 in Cambridge, MA, USA

Died: 2/4/1909 in Belmont, MA, USA

MLB Debut: 1882-05-02 | Final Game: 1894-07-12

Bats: R | Throws: R | Height: 5'10" | Weight: 155 lbs

Full name: John Gibson Clarkson

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Biography

John Clarkson, born in 1861, was a prominent pitcher who made his mark in Major League Baseball from 1882 to 1894. Renowned for his impressive skills on the mound, Clarkson finished his career with a record of 328 wins and 178 losses, boasting an earned run average (ERA) of 2.81. Over the course of his career, he recorded a total of 1,978 strikeouts and secured 5 saves, establishing himself as one of the premier pitchers of his era. Clarkson's contributions to the game were particularly significant during a time when baseball was transitioning into a more offense-driven sport, and his pitching prowess helped to shape the strategies of teams in the late 19th century. Inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1963, Clarkson's legacy endures as one of the early greats of the game. He was known for his durability and ability to pitch complete games, which was a hallmark of the era before the modern bullpen became prevalent. His accomplishments not only highlighted his individual talent but also reflected the competitive spirit of the league during his playing days. As one of the dominant pitchers of his time, Clarkson's influence is still felt in the way pitching is approached in the game today.

Career Pitching Statistics

W	L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	IP	H	ER	HR	BB	SO	ERA	Pitcher PIV
328	178	531	518	485	37	5	4536.3	4295	1417	159	1191	1978	2.81	0

Career ERA 2.81 vs. league average 3.64 across their career seasons — 22.9% better than league average.

Season-by-Season Pitching

Year	Team	Lg	W	L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA	Lg ERA	Pitcher PIV
1882	WOR	NL	1	2	3	3	2	0	0	24.0	49	12	2	3	4.50	2.80 (-61%)	23.7
1884	CHC	NL	10	3	14	13	12	0	0	118.0	94	28	25	102	2.14	3.11 (+31%)	-
1885	CHC	NL	53	16	70	70	68	10	0	623.0	497	128	97	308	1.85	3.03 (+39%)	-
1886	CHC	NL	36	17	55	55	50	3	0	466.7	419	125	86	313	2.41	3.37 (+28%)	-
1887	CHC	NL	38	21	60	59	56	2	0	523.0	513	179	92	237	3.08	4.17 (+26%)	-
1888	BSN	NL	33	20	54	54	53	3	0	483.3	448	148	119	223	2.76	2.95 (+6%)	361.7
1889	BSN	NL	49	19	73	72	68	8	1	620.0	589	188	203	284	2.73	3.93 (+31%)	7881.6
1890	BSN	NL	26	18	44	44	43	2	0	383.0	370	139	140	138	3.27	3.88 (+16%)	-96.1
1891	BSN	NL	33	19	55	51	47	3	3	460.7	435	143	154	141	2.79	3.52 (+21%)	16.5
1892	BSN	NL	8	6	16	16	15	4	0	145.7	115	38	60	48	2.35	3.28 (+29%)	-705.2
1892	CL4	NL	17	10	29	28	27	1	1	243.3	235	69	72	91	2.55	3.28 (+22%)	2875.0
1893	CL4	NL	16	17	36	35	31	0	0	295.0	358	146	95	62	4.45	4.66 (+4%)	2647.1
1894	CL4	NL	8	10	22	18	13	1	0	150.7	173	74	46	28	4.42	5.33 (+17%)	1753.9

Career Batting Statistics

G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	BB	SO	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS	PIV
546	1974	254	432	73	26	24	232	31	81	382	0.219	0.250	0.319	0.569	-5406.5

Career AVG .219 vs. league average .257 across their career seasons — 15.0% below league average.

Career OBP .250 vs. league average .319 across their career seasons — 21.5% below league average.

Career SLG .319 vs. league average .348 across their career seasons — 8.6% below league average.

Career OPS 0.569 vs. league average 0.667 across their career seasons — 14.8% below league average.

Season-by-Season Batting

Year	Team	Lg	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	BB	SO	AVG	Lg AVG	Lg OBP	Lg SLG	Lg OPS	PIV
1882	WOR	NL	3	11	0	4	2	0	0	2	0	0	3	0.364	—	—	—	—	0.0
1884	CHC	NL	21	84	16	22	6	2	3	17	0	2	16	0.262	.243 (+8%)	.278 (avg)	.327 (+49%)	.606 (+27%)	262.2
1885	CHC	NL	72	283	34	61	11	5	4	32	0	3	44	0.216	.244 (-12%)	.287 (-22%)	.325 (+2%)	.613 (-9%)	-536.9
1886	CHC	NL	55	210	21	49	9	1	3	23	2	0	38	0.233	.246 (-5%)	.302 (-23%)	.331 (-1%)	.634 (-11%)	-464.4
1887	CHC	NL	63	215	40	52	5	5	6	25	6	11	25	0.242	.270 (-11%)	.331 (-16%)	.373 (+6%)	.705 (-4%)	-249.9
1888	BSN	NL	55	205	20	40	9	1	1	17	5	7	48	0.195	.238 (-18%)	.290 (-24%)	.319 (-18%)	.610 (-21%)	-683.3
1889	BSN	NL	73	262	36	54	9	3	2	23	8	11	59	0.206	.263 (-22%)	.334 (-29%)	.357 (-20%)	.691 (-24%)	-1217.1
1890	BSN	NL	45	173	18	43	6	3	2	26	2	8	31	0.249	.260 (-4%)	.336 (-15%)	.351 (avg)	.687 (-7%)	-279.7
1891	BSN	NL	55	187	28	42	7	4	0	26	2	18	50	0.225	.254 (-12%)	.331 (-12%)	.343 (-11%)	.675 (-11%)	-401.1
1892	BSN	NL	16	57	7	13	3	0	1	13	1	3	15	0.228	.244 (-7%)	.316 (-16%)	.327 (+2%)	.644 (-7%)	-77.3
1892	CL4	NL	29	101	8	14	0	0	0	4	2	8	24	0.139	.244 (-43%)	.316 (-36%)	.327 (-58%)	.644 (-47%)	-77.3
1893	CL4	NL	37	131	18	27	6	2	1	17	2	4	20	0.206	.279 (-26%)	.356 (-36%)	.379 (-20%)	.735 (-27%)	-688.8
1894	CL4	NL	22	55	8	11	0	0	1	7	1	6	9	0.200	.309 (-35%)	.379 (-26%)	.435 (-42%)	.814 (-35%)	-350.1

Postseason Statistics

Playoff Career Batting

G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	AVG
10	36	2	5	1	0	1	4	0	3	0.139

Playoff Batting by Year

Year	Round	Team	G	AB	R	H	2B	HR	RBI	SO	AVG
1892	CS	CL4	2	8	1	2	0	1	3	1	0.250
1886	WS	CHN	4	15	0	1	0	0	1	2	0.067
1885	WS	CHN	4	13	1	2	1	0	0	0	0.154

Playoff Career Pitching

W	L	G	GS	SV	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA
2	5	8	8	0	64.0	64	19	18	52	2.67

Playoff Pitching by Year

Year	Round	Team	W	L	G	GS	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA
1892	CS	CL4	0	2	2	2	17.0	24	10	5	9	5.29
1886	WS	CHN	2	2	4	4	31.0	25	7	12	28	2.03
1885	WS	CHN	0	1	2	2	16.0	15	2	1	15	1.12

Fielding Statistics

Career Fielding Totals by Position

Position	G	PO	A	E	DP
1B	2	3	0	3	0
3B	4	0	3	2	0
OF	27	15	5	11	1
P	531	221	1143	162	44

Season-by-Season Fielding

Year	Team	Pos	G	PO	A	E	DP
1882	WOR	1B	1	0	0	0	0
1882	WOR	P	3	1	6	1	0
1884	CHN	1B	1	3	0	3	0
1884	CHN	3B	2	0	2	2	0
1884	CHN	OF	8	5	5	4	1
1884	CHN	P	14	6	38	11	5
1885	CHN	3B	1	0	1	0	0
1885	CHN	OF	3	1	0	0	0
1885	CHN	P	70	26	174	20	8
1886	CHN	OF	5	1	0	0	0
1886	CHN	P	55	19	114	19	3
1887	CHN	OF	5	5	0	1	0
1887	CHN	P	60	34	125	7	5
1888	BSN	OF	1	1	0	2	0
1888	BSN	P	54	22	117	19	3
1889	BSN	3B	1	0	0	0	0
1889	BSN	OF	2	1	0	0	0
1889	BSN	P	73	36	172	27	8
1890	BSN	OF	1	1	0	3	0
1890	BSN	P	44	21	72	14	3
1891	BSN	OF	1	0	0	0	0
1891	BSN	P	55	27	114	13	2
1892	BSN	P	16	2	36	5	3
1892	CL4	P	29	9	51	10	1
1893	CL4	OF	1	0	0	1	0
1893	CL4	P	36	15	82	7	1
1894	CL4	P	22	3	42	9	2