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Quick trivia

Posted by Andy on September 6, 2007

Who is the only player in major league history to have at least 30 HR and 80 RBI in a season with fewer than 400 plate appearances?

Read down the page for a clue, and click through for the answer.

CLUE: He did it in 2005

ANSWER: Tony Clark

What an amazing year Clark had that season:

  Cnt Player            **HR**  PA RBI Year Age Tm  Lg  G   AB  R   H  2B 3B  BB IBB  SO HBP  SH  SF GDP  SB CS   BA   OBP   SLG   OPS  Positions
+----+-----------------+------+---+---+----+---+---+--+---+---+---+---+--+--+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+--+-----+-----+-----+-----+---------+
    1 Tony Clark          30   393  87 2005  33 ARI NL 130 349  47 106 22  2  37   6  88   1   0   6  10   0  0  .304  .366  .636 1.002 *3/D

Clark got into 130 games, and made the most of his homers, with 16 coming with men on base. His total figures with men on were .311/.350/.638 with 16 HR and 73 RBI, in just 177 at-bats.

Clark's had a remarkable career--sometimes remarkably good and other times remarkably bad. In the late 1990s, he was regarded as one of the premiere power hitters, but injuries and slipped production put him on the scrap heap after the 2001 season. Many thought it was a shrewd move by Boston to pick him up, but he had an almost unbelievably dismal season in 2002 for the Red Sox, hitting just .207/.265/.291. Only Einar Diaz, Ron Belliard, and Joe Girardi had at least 200 AB and a lower SLG that year. Clark the became a part-time player from 2003 to 2005 and was tremendous, only to fall off considerably again in the last 2 seasons.

By the way, a total of 3 players have had 30+ HR with fewer than 400 PAs:

 Cnt Player            **HR**  PA Year Age Tm  Lg  G   AB  R   H  2B 3B RBI  BB IBB  SO HBP  SH  SF GDP  SB CS   BA   OBP   SLG   OPS  Positions
+----+-----------------+------+---+----+---+---+--+---+---+---+---+--+--+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+--+-----+-----+-----+-----+---------+
    1 Mark McGwire        32   321 2000  36 STL NL  89 236  60  72  8  0  73  76  12  78   7   0   2   5   1  0  .305  .483  .746 1.229 *3/467
    2 Tony Clark          30   393 2005  33 ARI NL 130 349  47 106 22  2  87  37   6  88   1   0   6  10   0  0  .304  .366  .636 1.002 *3/D
    3 Kevin Mitchell      30   380 1994  32 CIN NL  95 310  57 101 18  1  77  59  15  62   3   0   8  12   2  0  .326  .429  .681 1.110 *7/3

In 1994, Mitchell was overshadowed by Matt Williams, who was on pace to hit 62 HRs when the season ended early due to strike (and that was back when 61 was still the record and there were no asterisks.)

One Response to “Quick trivia”

  1. spartanbill Says:

    As far as I can tell, Tony Clark has another dsitinction. He is, as far as I can tell, the only player to homer in six time zones.

    Along with the obvious assortment of North American ballparks,Clarke was the only player I found who homered both in the Tokyo Dome and Estadio Hiram Bithorn.

    If I missed someone, please let me know.