Harlond Benton "Darkie" Clift (August 12, 1912 – April 27, 1992) was a

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

(

MLB Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

)

third baseman A third baseman, abbreviated 3B, is the player in baseball or softball whose responsibility is to defend the area nearest to third base — the third of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. In the Baseball scorekeep ...

for the

St. Louis Browns The St. Louis Browns were a Major League Baseball team that originated in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, as the Milwaukee Brewers. A charter member of the American League (AL), the Brewers moved to St. Louis, Missouri, after the 1901 season, where they ...

(1934–1943) and the Washington Senators (1943–1945). He was an

All-Star An all-star team is a group of people all having a high level of performance in their field. Originating in sports, it has since drifted into vernacular and has been borrowed heavily by the entertainment industry. Sports "All-star" as a sport ...

for the

American League The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is the younger of two sports leagues, leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western L ...

in 1937. He threw and batted right-handed, and was listed as tall and .

Early life

Clift was born in

El Reno, Oklahoma El Reno is a city in and the county seat of Canadian County, Oklahoma, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city population was 16,989, marking a change of 1.55% from 16,729, recorded in the 2010 census. The city was begun shortly after ...

. He tried out for the St. Louis Browns in 1931 and sustained an unusual injury during the tryout. While reaching to field a ball, Clift stepped on his own glove, which caused him to trip and roll forward. He broke his collarbone in the fall. Nonetheless, the Browns signed Clift and he made his major-league debut in 1934.

Career

Clift batted over .300 twice (in and ) and scored 145 runs in 1936, the second highest total in the American League behind

Lou Gehrig Henry Louis Gehrig ( ; June 19, 1903June 2, 1941), also known as Heinrich Ludwig Gehrig, was an American professional baseball first baseman who played 17 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the New York Yankees (1923–1939). Gehrig was ...

. In 1937, he set single-season records of 50 double plays and 405 assists, which stood until 1971. The following year, Clift hit a personal best 34

home runs In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run ...

and equaled his top year for

runs batted in A run batted in or runs batted in (RBI) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if th ...

with 118. Clift was traded to the Washington Senators in 1943. A serious case of the

mumps MUMPS ("Massachusetts General Hospital Utility Multi-Programming System"), or M, is an imperative, high-level programming language with an integrated transaction processing key–value database. It was originally developed at Massachusetts Gen ...

and a horse-riding injury hampered Clift's play late in his career. In 12 seasons, Clift played in 1,582 games and had 1,558

hits Hits or H.I.T.S. may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * '' H.I.T.S.'', 1991 album by New Kids on the Block * ''...Hits'' (Phil Collins album), 1998 * ''Hits'' (compilation series), 1984–2006; 2014, a British compilation album s ...

in 5,730 at bats for a .272

batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average is ...

. He belted 178 homers, 309 doubles, 62

triples TripleS (; ; stylized as tripleS) is a South Korean 24-member multinational girl group formed by Modhaus. They aim to be the world's first decentralized idol group, where the members will rotate between the full group, sub-units, and solo activi ...

, and 829 RBI. He scored 1,070 runs and drew 1,070

bases on balls A base on balls (BB), better known as a walk, occurs in baseball when a batter receives four pitches during a plate appearance that the umpire calls '' balls'', and is in turn awarded first base without the possibility of being called out. The bas ...

. Clift was one of the first power-hitting third basemen, posting good offensive numbers at a time when players at that position were more valued for their fielding. Nevertheless, Clift was a superb fielder. Clift's nickname, "Darkie", has what

Bill James George William James (born October 5, 1949) is an American baseball writer, historian, and statistician whose work has been widely influential. Since 1977, James has written more than two dozen books about baseball history and statistics. His a ...

referred to as "a rather unpleasant derivation": One of his Browns teammates, Alan Strange, misheard Clift's first name and thought that it was

Harlem Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and Central Park North on the south. The greater ...

, a predominantly black area in New York. Clift died in

Yakima, Washington Yakima ( or ) is a city in and the county seat of Yakima County, Washington, United States, and the state's 11th most populous city. As of the 2020 census, the city had a total population of 96,968 and a metropolitan population of 256,728. The ...

at the age of 79.Ex-Brownie Clift dies
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References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Clift, Harlond 1912 births 1992 deaths American League All-Stars Baseball players from Oklahoma Baseball players from Yakima, Washington Detroit Tigers scouts Longview Cannibals players Major League Baseball third basemen People from El Reno, Oklahoma San Antonio Missions players St. Louis Browns players 20th-century American sportsmen Washington Senators (1901–1960) players Wichita Falls Spudders players Yakima Stars players

Early life

Career

See also

References

External links