Marvin Clack

Marvin Clack

• Bats Both, Throws Right
• Height 6' 0", Weight 165 lb.

• Born October 30, 1958

BR register page

Biographical Information

Marvin Clack spent five seasons in the minors, all in the Pittsburgh Pirates chain.

Clack debuted with the GCL Pirates in 1980, hitting .253/.298/.327. He stole 10 bases in 12 tries but fielded .878 as their primary shortstop. In 1981, he hit .303/.390/.350 for the Greenwood Pirates, with 63 walks, 87 runs and 30 steals in 45 tries. His fielding fell to .875 as he made 74 errors. He led South Atlantic League shortstops in assists (349, 41 ahead of Jeff Reynolds) and errors (21 ahead of Augie Garcia). He turned 61 double plays, one behind Reynolds and his 167 assists tied Rocket Wheeler for second, one behind Garcia. On offense, he as 6th in average (between Luis Ojeda and Matt Winters), 9th in runs (between Juan Samuel and Winters) and 9th in steals but first in times caught (2 ahead of Jeff Stone, who swiped 93 more bags). Among Pirates minor leaguers, only Rick Renteria had more runs (by 3), he was 4th in steals and tied Ron Wotus for 8th in walks.

With the 1982 Alexandria Dukes, he improved his fielding to .919 with 43 errors while batting .236/.373/.284 with 92 walks and 73 runs. Half of his 12 extra-base hits were triples. He stole 21 bases but was gunned down 18 times. He led Carolina League shortstops in errors (by 9), led the league in walks (three ahead of Darren Daulton), was 10th in OBP (between Dave Falcone and Samuel) tied for 4th in triples, led in caught stealing and was second in sacrifice hits, one shy of Mike Quade. In the Bucco farm chain, he was 10th in runs, 7th in triples, tied Doug Frobel for second in steals, was second in times caught (4 behind Trench Davis), led in walks (7 ahead of Benny Distefano) and was second to Quade in sacrifice bunts.

Back with Alexandria in 1983, his batting line fell to .207/.344/.263 and he again was caught stealing a lot (15 CS, 17 SB) but he still drew 90 walks and scored 68 runs. He moved to 2B and fielded .957 there. He was second in the league in walks (17 behind Lenny Dykstra) and tied Mike Mesh for 6th in caught stealing. On May 20 he set a Carolina League record by drawing 7 walks in 1 game. In the Pittsburgh minor league system, he was second in walks (11 behind Charles McGehee). He ended his career as a backup 3B/2B for the 1984 Nashua Pirates, hitting .253/.346/.283 with 27 steals in 32 tries. He was 8th in the Pirates chain in steals and was also 8th in the Eastern League (between Paul O'Neill and Greg Key).

In 523 games as a pro, Clack had hit .251/.360/.299 with 300 walks, 105 steals in 160 tries, 16 triples, 286 runs and 123 RBI. He fielded .895 in 301 games at SS, .961 in 135 games at 2B, .931 in 56 at 3B and had played 13 error-free games in the outfield.