Fred Clarke Cincinnati

Fred Clifford Clarke (1872–1960) appears here in the E254 Colgan's Chips issue under a Cincinnati team line — a deadball-era misattribution, since Clarke spent his entire NL career as a Louisville and then Pittsburgh outfielder and never wore a Reds uniform. The Colgan's Chips set, distributed inside packs of chewing gum from 1909 through 1912 in two main runs, is dotted with such errors and the variants are sought after on their own merits. Born October 3, 1872 in Winterset, Iowa, the left-handed-hitting outfielder who threw right debuted with Louisville in 1894 and was named player-manager there in 1897 at age 24. When Louisville contracted in 1900, Clarke moved with the franchise's stars to Pittsburgh, where he served as player-manager through 1915, winning four NL pennants and the 1909 World Series over Detroit. He retired with 2,672 career hits and a .312 average across twenty-one seasons. He died August 14, 1960 in Winfield, Kansas and is buried at Greenlawn Cemetery there. The Hall of Fame elected him in 1945.