Nig Clarke

Jay Clarke
Clarke playing for the Cleveland Naps
Catcher
Born: (1882-12-15)December 15, 1882
Anderdon Township (now Amherstburg, Ontario), Canada
Died: June 15, 1949(1949-06-15) (aged 66)
River Rouge, Michigan, U.S.
Batted: Left
Threw: Right
MLB debut
April 26, 1905, for the Cleveland Naps
Last MLB appearance
April 24, 1920, for the Pittsburgh Pirates
MLB statistics
Batting average.254
Home runs6
Runs batted in127
Stats at Baseball Reference Edit this at Wikidata
Teams
Member of the Canadian
Baseball Hall of Fame
Induction1996

Jay Justin "Nig" Clarke (December 15, 1882 – June 15, 1949) was a Canadian professional baseball player. A catcher, Clarke played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for nine seasons with the Detroit Tigers, Cleveland Naps, St. Louis Browns, Philadelphia Phillies, and Pittsburgh Pirates. In 506 career games, Clarke recorded a batting average of .254 and accumulated 20 triples, six home runs, and 127 runs batted in (RBI).

Born in Canada and raised in Michigan, Clarke began his baseball career in 1902, when he reportedly hit eight home runs in one game while playing for the Corsicana Oil Citys of the Texas League. From there, he spent two more seasons in the minor leagues before the Cleveland Naps signed him to a contract. Aside from a loan to the Detroit Tigers, he played for the Naps for six seasons. Clarke was then traded to the St. Louis Browns, where he played for one season. After several years in the minor leagues, Clarke joined the United States Marine Corps. He returned to the major leagues and played there until 1920, then continued playing for minor league teams until 1927. Clarke then retired from the game, rejoined the Marines, and moved to River Rouge, Michigan, where he lived until his death in 1949.