Howie Clark
| Howie Clark | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Utility player | |
| Born: February 13, 1974 San Diego, California |
|
| Bats: Left | Throws: Right |
| MLB debut | |
| July 16, 2002 for the Baltimore Orioles | |
| Career statistics (through 2008 season) |
|
| Batting average | .262 |
| Home runs | 3 |
| Runs batted in | 26 |
| Teams | |
Howard Roddy Clark (born February 13, 1974 in San Diego, California) is a Major League Baseball utility player who is currently a free-agent. Clark made his Major League Baseball debut with the Baltimore Orioles in 2002 and has played at the major league level in parts of six seasons with the Orioles, Blue Jays, and Minnesota Twins. He is 5'10 in height and weighs 195 pounds.
[edit] Playing career
Clark was drafted by the Baltimore Orioles in the 27th round of the 1992 Major League Baseball Draft[1] and spent 10 years in Baltimore's minor league system. During this time, Clark played in parts of four seasons with the Rochester Red Wings, the Orioles' Triple-A affiliate, from 1998 to 2002 and was named the team captain. He made his major league debut with Baltimore on July 16, 2002. Clark became a free agent after the 2002 season and signed with the Toronto Blue Jays.
After two seasons with the Blue Jays, Clark signed a minor league contract with the Pittsburgh Pirates. He spent the 2005 season with the Pirates' Double-A and Triple-A affiliates before signing with Baltimore before the 2006 season. Clark played most of the year with their Triple-A affiliate, the Ottawa Lynx, but was called up to Baltimore for a brief stretch during the months of June and July. After 2006, Clark re-signed with Toronto.
On May 30, 2007, while playing third base for the Blue Jays, Clark let an easy pop fly fall after Alex Rodriguez yelled in order to distract the infielders.[1][2] Sports telecasts aired this play numerous times in the following days as part of discussions on Rodriguez's sportsmanship.
Clark was cited in the 2007 Mitchell Report on performance enhancing drugs in baseball.[3] According to steroids distributor Kirk Radomski, Clark made four or five purchases of HGH (human growth hormone) from Radomski. Records indicate Clark made at least two payments via money order to Radomski in 2005.
Clark was released by the Blue Jays on August 7, 2007. He then signed a minor league contract with the Minnesota Twins on November 27 of that year and began the 2008 season with the Rochester Red Wings, now the Triple-A affiliate of the Twins. Clark was called up to Minnesota on May 16 to replace the injured Matt Tolbert but was designated for assignment to Rochester on May 31. He accepted the assignment, stating that one of his reasons for returning to Rochester was his good relationship with the fans.[citation needed] He became a free agent at the end of the season and signed a minor league contract with the Toronto Blue Jays in January 2009.
[edit] References
- ^ a b Kelly, Cathal (June 15, 2007). "Clark enjoys moment in the bigs". Toronto Star. http://www.thestar.com/printArticle/225687. Retrieved 2009-04-30.
- ^ Lefort, David (May 31, 2007). "'Bush league' or brilliant?". The Boston Globe. http://www.boston.com/sports/baseball/redsox/extras/extra_bases/2007/05/bush_league_or_1.html?p1=MEWell_Pos5. Retrieved 2009-04-30.
- ^ "Journeyman Howie Clark says he's sorry for Mitchell Report link". Associated Press. February 20, 2008. http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/wire?section=mlb&id=3255634. Retrieved 2009-04-30.
[edit] External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Howie Clark |
- Career statistics and player information from MLB, or ESPN, or Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube
- 1974 births
- Living people
- People from San Diego, California
- Toronto Blue Jays players
- Baltimore Orioles players
- Minnesota Twins players
- Baseball players from California
- Major League Baseball infielders
- Major League Baseball outfielders
- Rochester Red Wings players
- Ottawa Lynx players
- High Desert Mavericks players
