Introducing: The MLB Hall Of Fame Class Of 1963.

John Clarkson: Pitcher, Boston Beaneaters

328-178 record, 2.81 ERA, 4536.1 innings pitched, 1978 strikeouts

I feel like I’ve said this a million times, but I’m going to say it once more: the game of baseball has completely transformed from the 19th century into what we know it today. John Clarkson is yet more evidence of that; here is a pitcher that only played professional baseball for 12 seasons, yet he still managed to start over 500 ballgames. His 328 wins currently puts him 12th on the all-time wins list, and his career highlights don’t end there. Clarkson in 1889 when he won the pitcher’s triple crown (49 wins, 2.73 ERA, 284 strikeouts), he led the league in wins and strikeouts three times each, paced his competitors in innings pitched four times (topping 600 IP twice), and won 30 or more games six times. Again, what gets me is the percentage of games he completed during his 12 years in Major League Baseball; he started 518 games during his career and completed 485 of them, meaning that when he started a game, he finished it 94% of the time. He also led the National League in games pitched, games started, and complete games three different years. Clarkson also helped himself at the plate, hitting 24 career home runs (7th all-time among pitchers), drove in 232 runs, and scored 254 times. This was truly a pitcher that could do it all.

Elmer Flick: Right Fielder, Cleveland Indians

.313 average, 950 runs scored, 1752 hits, 48 home runs, 756 RBI, 330 stolen bases

Another player in this induction class with a “short” career by Hall of Fame standards, outfielder Elmer Flick played 13 seasons in the Major Leagues, with nine of those seasons coming at the end of his career with the Cleveland Indians. Flick was so well-regarded around the league that Cleveland and the Detroit Tigers almost swapped him for fellow Hall of Famer Ty Cobb, but the deal never materialized. The Indians outfielder hit over .300 on eight different occasions, led the league in stolen bases twice, led the league in triples three years in a row, and won one batting title while also having the highest slugging percentage in 1905. Flick made a name for himself when he filled in for the injured Sam Thompson and showed that he was capable of being a success in professional baseball. After a few years, he jumped shipped and started playing for the Philadelphia Athletics in the brand new American League. Once there was an injunction put into play by the court that players who left the Phillies couldn’t play for anyone else, him and teammate Nap Lajoie went to play for Cleveland, since the ruling couldn’t be enforced in Ohio. He had a world of talent in the outfield, but he unfortunately couldn’t help any of his teams win a league championship.

Sam Rice: Right Fielder, Washington Senators

.322 average, 1515 runs scored, 2987 hits, 34 home runs, 918 RBI, 351 stolen bases

Sam Rice breaks the mold from our first two 1963 inductees because even though he didn’t get his first full season under his belt until the age of 27, he played 20 years of professional baseball, with all but one year playing for the Washington Senators. Rice was well known for his prowess at the plate; he is among the top-30 on the career hits list, topped a .300 batting average 13 times, had six seasons of 200 or more hits, and five seasons of 100 or more runs scored. He enjoyed the best three year stretch in Senators history from 1923-1925 when the organization won three pennants and won a World Series in 1924. Rice holds the most career hits by any player that didn’t reach the 3,000 hit club; he retired at the age of 44 and proclaimed that he really didn’t know how many hits he had compiled over his entire career. The owner of the Senators asked him if he wanted to come back briefly to reach the milestone, but he didn’t have it in him to get back into playing shape. He said that if he knew he was that close, he would have stuck around to get those last 13 hits. One of the qualities one looks for in a Hall of Famer is resiliency. No one in Cooperstown has the type of resiliency that Rice had because before he made his debut in the Big Leagues, he lost his entire family, which included his wife, parents, and children, to a tornado in Illinois in 1912. It must have taken a lot to go on with his career and life after that.

Eppa Rixey: Pitcher, Cincinnati Reds

266-251 record, 3.15 ERA, 4494 innings pitched, 1350 strikeouts

Eppa Rixey was the epitome of a gamer throughout his entire 21 year career. After playing college ball at the University of Virginia, he was signed by the Philadelphia Phillies and immediately made it to the show, never pitching an inning in a minor league game. Rixey was an intellectual type of pitcher, especially since he taught high school Latin during the off-season. He led the league in wins, innings pitched, and shutouts once and at the time of his retirement, he held the most career wins by a left handed pitcher. He enjoyed four 20-win seasons, but his first eight seasons in professional ball with the Phillies was up and down at best because he led the league in wins once, but also led the league in losses twice. Once he was traded to the Reds, he really found his stride with eight consecutive winning seasons before his skills started to decline at the age of 38. However, this was a man that didn’t care about his age and said, ” I want to pitch against everybody. I don’t care if I’m almost forty-three.” The tenacious southpaw didn’t get to enjoy his election to the Hall of Fame very long because he died in Cincinnati a month after the Veterans Committee elected him in.

Next week, we take a look at the induction class of 1964, which is the largest in quite some time with six new members.

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