Jack Clements

[Cowtipper]

Catcher Jack Clements spent 17 years in the big leagues, hitting .287 with 1,231 hits, 226 doubles and a 117 OPS+. He hit over .300 five times, posted OBPs greater than .400 three times and slugged .500 or better twice.* He even hit more than 10 home runs twice in an era when doing so was not in vogue.

*counting only seasons with 150+ at-bats

He twice led the league in AB/HR ratio and he once paced the loop in games played at catcher. Thrice he led the league in catcher putouts and in 1898 he led the league in catcher fielding percentage. He frequently appeared in the top ten in home runs and slugging percentage as well.

Statistically, he is similar to Don Slaught, Spud Davis, Chief Zimmer, Sandy Alomar, Paul Lo Duca, Thurman Munson, Jimmie Wilson, Bob O'Farrell, Bengie Molina and Smoky Burgess. Through age 27, he was most similar to Hall of Famer Al Lopez. The Fan EloRater ranks him at #531, ahead of Tim McCarver, Andre Thornton and Mickey Rivers, but behind Kevin Seitzer, George Kelly and Todd Zeile.

Of note, he was the last left-handed catcher to be used on a regular basis. He was also one of the first catchers in history to use a chest protector and he was the first catcher to catch 1,000 games in a career. He held the single-season and career records for home runs by a catcher at the time of his retirement.

What do you think about Jack Clements? Should he be in the Hall of Fame? Did he have Hall of Fame potential?

[Fuzzy Bear]

Clements is a guy who has a case for the HOF if the accomplishments were, say, of a catcher that played 120 games a year during the sixties and seventies. He's the kind of guy who, under those circumstances, would have been an undervalued star unearthed after the fact by sabermetrics, and we'd all be buzzing about his case, talking about how much better he was than Ray Fosse and Manny Sanguillen, and was almost as good as Thurman Munson.

Clements, of course, played in the 19th century; he was not a full-timer at catcher (although he was the #1 catcher on his teams), and he was not elected to the HOF by any of the Old-Timers committees composed of folks who may have seen him play, or knew people personally who did. Baseball was a very different game in the 19th century, and I'm not sure that all of the 19th century stars would have been stars in the modern eras (assuming time travel were possible). Accordingly, I place great weight on the fact that the earliest Old-Timers committees did not select Clements for the HOF. There is no real evidence that Clements was anything more than a good player. He was not such a major star as to be advanced as a candidate for the HOF in the 30s and 40s, and while I could be persuaded, I would have to overcome the sense that Clements' greatness is something arrived at much after the fact, and not a conclusion of the observers of his time. I'm willing to be persuaded, but I need some evidence of perceived stardom by his contemporaries.

[jjpm74]

He is middling for his era. No, not a HOFer and no on potential.

[adarowski]

Statistically, he is similar to Don Slaught, Spud Davis, Chief Zimmer, Sandy Alomar, Paul Lo Duca, Thurman Munson, Jimmie Wilson, Bob O'Farrell, Bengie Molina and Smoky Burgess.

I've got him similar (in terms of career value) to Burgess, Eddie Stanky, Jack Rowe, Art Devlin, Max Bishop, and Roy Campanella (without any boost given to Roy for the start or end of his career). He did catch in 93% of his career games, which is quite high. He was an above average hitter and above average defender at a premium position (by B-R WAR components). What hurts him is the fact that he only played 100 games twice. I don't give him the boost for this that I do give to Deacon White. White played when the seasons were incredibly short. Clements mostly didn't reach those marks because he wasn't playing all the time.

I had him as a no, but I do have him ranked as the #27 catcher of all time (simply on statistical merit). http://www.hallofstats.com/position/c/#clemeja01

[Cowtipper]

Jack Clements > Ray Schalk? Rick Ferrell? Ernie Lombardi? Which Hall of Fame catchers, if any, is he better than?

[PVNICK]

Jack Clements > Ray Schalk? Rick Ferrell? Ernie Lombardi? Which Hall of Fame catchers, if any, is he better than?

Wait a second are you mocking your own selectee??? What is the world coming to. Next you'll be posting "sure if he buys a ticket" (I know he's dead but still).