Clarkson, John G.
Baseball
b. July 1, 1861, Cambridge, MA
d. Feb. 4, 1909
In an era when the pitching distance was only 50 feet and most pitchers relied on sheer speed, Clarkson used a "drop curve," thrown directly overhand so that it broke straight down. The pitch had an unusually sharp break because Clarkson had very strong fingers: With a single twist, he could spin a billiard ball all the way around a table, hitting four banks.
Clarkson played for the Worcester NL team for part of the 1882 season, but the franchise folded and he spent nearly two seasons in the minor leagues before joining the Chicago NL team late in 1884, when he had a 10-3 record.
Teams usually used just two starting pitchers at the time, and one of them started more often than the other. Clarkson became Chicago's chief pitcher in 1885. He completed 68 of his 70 starts, had a 53-16 record, struck out 318 while walking only 99 in 622 innings, and had 10 shutouts, including a no-hitter against Providence on July 27.
Clarkson went 36-17 in 1886 and 38-21 in 1887, but was sold to Boston in 1888 because of frequent clashes with Chicago manager Cap Anson. The price was $10,000. Boston also paid $10,000 for catcher King Kelly, giving the team the "$20,000 Battery."
For Boston, Clarkson was 33-20 in 1888, 49-19 in 1889, and 26-18 in 1890. He helped lead the team to the pennant in 1891, when he was 33-19. The following year, however, he developed arm trouble and was released after appearing in just 16 games. The Cleveland Spiders picked him up and he ended the season with a combined 25-16 mark.
After going 16-17 and 8-10 the next two years, Clarkson left baseball. He suffered a nervous breakdown in 1906 and was in a mental institution most of the time until his death from pneumonia.
Clarkson had a career 328-178 record with 485 complete games and 37 shutouts in 518 starts. He struck out 1,978 hitters and walked 1,191 in 4,536 innings.