Harold Clem

Harold Raymond Clem

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 3", Weight 160 lb.
• School Oklahoma State University
• High School Central High School (Tulsa)

• Born March 12, 1946 in Shawnee, OK USA
• Died September 25, 2005 in Florida USA

BR Minors page

Biographical Information

Pitcher Harold Clem was signed by the Pittsburgh Pirates before the 1965 season, just before the Amateur draft came into being. He spent his first professional season with the Gastonia Pirates of the Western Carolinas League, going 10-8, 2.86 in 25 games and striking out 157 batters in 154 innings to finish fourth in the circuit. He also served six months at Camp Lejeune, NC with the United States Marine Corps that year, presumably after the baseball season. In 1966 and 1967, he spent two full seasons with the Raleigh Pirates of the Carolina League, finishing at 5-13, 3.85 the first year, but improving to 15-3, 1.64 the second. He led the league in wins, winning percentage (among pitchers with 10 or more decisions) and ERA (minimum 150 IP, an impressive .73 ahead of runner-up Luis Peñalver). He then continued to dominate in the Florida Instructional League, going 5-0.

Following his breakout 1967 season, on December 14th, he was included in a blockbuster trade that saw future Hall of Famer Jim Bunning go from the Philadelphia Phillies to the Pirates in return for Ps Woodie Fryman, Bill Laxton and Clem and IF Don Money. Clem would be the only one of the quartet not to make it to the majors. In 1968, he was assigned to the Reading Phillies of the Eastern League but would stall there for the next four seasons. In the first of these, he was 7-5, 2.42 in 21 games and then returned in 1969 to go 10-5, 3.77 in 22 games. It's not as if the major league Phillies were pitching-rich at the time, but they did not find it worthwhile to give him a look or even to promote him to AAA. One ca say that there were some red flags around Clem, in spite of his good record: he seemed to completely lose his ability to strike out opposing batters, with only 44 Ks in 105 innings. In 1970, he pitched just 14 times for Reading, but once again dominated in terms of win/loss record, at 9-2, 2.64. His strikeout rate remained minute though, with 34 in 92 innings. In 1971, he started his fourth straight season at Reading and was 3-2, 3.86 after 7 starts. He then completed the season with the Asheville Tourists of the Chicago White Sox organization, although it's not clear whether this was the result of being released by the Phillies or of being implicated in a minor league transaction. In the Dixie Association, he was 2-4, 5.27 in 12 games and did not pitch professionally after that.

After baseball, he settled in Florida where he worked in the aluminum industry. He died there in 2005.

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