New York Yankees Tribute: During the CBS era, the face of the Yankees, Horace Clark dies at 81

The New York Yankees Horace Clark has passed away on Wednesday, August 5th at the age of 81.  Clark was no Yankee legend, but he was the glue that held the Yankee team together during a time that that the CBS ownership let the team and the Stadium go into disrepair.

Perverse as it may be, his durability and visibility made Horace the undeserving scapegoat for the Roman Empire-like dry rot of the Yankees after 1964.  Nevertheless, Horace gave it 100 percent when on the field and was a pesky hitter. He had good speed on the bases and was a good defender at second base.

Horace Clark was born in the Virgin Islands on the Island of St. Croix, he was one of only fourteen baseball players from the islands. He was born on June 2, 1939, to parents Dennis and Vivian.  Dennis was a cricketer.  At the age of thirteen, young Horace started playing baseball in high school.  There were no little leagues in the islands. “As kids, we formed teams and played wherever we could, usually on Saturdays. If the older players were using the ballpark, we were relegated to a small area by the ocean,” Clark recalled.

Most of the players were right-handed, and playing by the ocean they were always losing balls in the ocean, so they all learned to hit left-handed. Horace joined the Braves, a local team in the St. Croix Baseball League, which was made up mainly of teenagers with some adults. He played there for five years, also representing Christiansted High School in inter-island school meets against St. Thomas.

He turned pro at the age of 17. Yankees scout José “Pepe” Seda, who contributed to the Puerto Rican Winter League on many levels, signed him that January of 1957 to the New York Yankees.  Horace worked his way through the minors where he showed off his most valuable attribute, speed on the bases, and 27 stolen bases in 1958.

During 1965, he made his major league debut, he broke in with the Yankees that May as a utility infielder. In 1966 after Bobby Richardson’s retirement, Horace would become the everyday second baseman, a position he held until 1974.  He was a solid player with the Yankees. In his ten years with the Yankees, he hit .257 with 27 home runs and 300 runs batted in.  When George Steinbrenner bought the team, he cleaned the house and traded Horace to the San Diego Padres.

In a period that the team was so bad, Clark was a favorite of the Yankee faithful.  In the past twenty-four hours, condolences and remembrances have been coming in from all over the baseball world.  New York Post Columnist Mike Vaccaro wrote: RIP Horace Clark, who unwittingly lent his name to an era of #Yankees futility but never let a terrible case of bad timing alter the fact that he loved his life, and cherished his memories.  Dom Amore of the Courant wrote: RIP Horace Clark. I’m of a certain age and remember his era well. An interesting and fun player to watch.

His buddy and fellow New York Yankees teammate Ron Blomberg (Boomer) wrote: Rest in peace my friend and teammate Horace Clark. Always a fighter, always a gamer, always ready to take one for the team. As calm and cool as they went. What a great teammate and a great person. I hadn’t seen him in a few years and was hoping to see him again. Sadly (that’s) not going to happen. Condolences to his family.

During last night’s game on the YES Network, they had a remembrance of fond memories of Horace Clark.

EmpireSportsMedia.com’s Columnist William Parlee is a member of the Society for American Baseball Research.  Follow me on Twitter @parleewilliam.