The indestructible Fred Clarke
 

http://www.vintagecardprices.com/pic.../91/211498.jpg

Fred Clarke remained active and seemingly indestructible into his 70s. In 1947, while fishing in northern Minnesota, he and his wife were thrown into icy northern Minnesota waters by a storm, but he was back out fishing the next day. Soon after, he was nearly shot accidentally while quail hunting. He then survived a gas furnace explosion in his basement. Fred Clarke died in Kansas at age 87.

Fred Clarke was also a rancher and had numerous patented inventions. He, like Ty Cobb, in wealth only, died a very rich man.

He also has one of the coolest poses on any pre-war issue:

And he was a reasonably avid signer for his autograph-collecting fans.

<img src="https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8101/28947597933_1c1f423d4f_z.jpg" width="399" height="640" alt="ClarkeBattingAutoSGC10.JPG.w560h898"></a>

Chuck --- really enjoy your write ups ..... :)

But here's a more "realistic" back example:

Attachment 319774


Jason, yup. CJ is a Classic !!!!!!!

Fun stuff, Scott :rolleyes:

which set used the image first ... E93 or T206?

E98

.

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...7a48e0628.heic

One of my favorite players.


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a Clarke bat
 

from his playing days

Good friend and mentor to my man, George Gibson.

Attachment 319841

The Pirates 1904 home opener - Fred is out there somewhere!

agreed! I have both the 14 and the 15. guess which this is!:D

I'm at the local little league field a good 6 days a week during spring and summer, and I've never EVER seen a kid sit on a bat like this haha.

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...8337758eb7.png

My favorite card of him.


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The Pirates 1904 home opener - Fred is out there somewhere!

One of the coolest pictures I've seen in a while!

No longer mine but this was a fave

http://luckeycards.com/pe1042clarkenadjaback.jpg

these two Fred Clarke pieces are two of my favorites:

1.He certainly was beloved/respected by his teammates/players, as the charm below (ex-Halper) was given to him by his Pittsburgh ball club per the inscription on the back of this cool piece form October 1903 following the first world series (loss).

2. His M-101 Sporting News card and the writeup on the back. "Best batter and fielder...without a weakness."

Paul

The only Clarke's I own are the ones that pair Clarke with the aforementioned Gibson. Here's one...

<img src="https://www.collectorfocus.com/images/show/georgegibson/baseball-cards/48006/1912-t202-chase-guarding-first-gibson-clarke" width="600" />

Cheers,

Richard.

Thanks Brendan! I wrote a thread about my research on these negatives: http://www.net54baseball.com/showthr...highlight=1904

Here is my other Clarke item (a favorite from my childhood collection) where it appears that someone tried to test Mr. Clarke's indestructibility.