Fred Clarke With Bat

This card files under the variation tag "Fred Clarke With Bat," the T206 White Border pose of the Pittsburgh Pirates' player-manager shown holding lumber rather than in a portrait crop. The player is Fred Clifford Clarke (1872–1960), the left-fielder who took over as Louisville's playing manager at age 24 in 1897 and continued in the dual role with Pittsburgh from 1900 to 1915 — a 19-year managerial run that produced four National League pennants and the 1909 World Series title over Detroit. He batted left and threw right, hit over .300 eleven times, and was famously short-tempered with umpires. By the time this card was issued, Clarke was on the back end of his playing days but still a regular in the Pittsburgh outfield. He died August 14, 1960 in Winfield, Kansas, on the ranch he had bought decades earlier with his baseball money, and was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1945 by the Old Timers Committee. The "With Bat" tag distinguishes the pose from the alternate Clarke T206 portrait.