An Exercise in Sarcasm: Why Will Clark Should Go to Cooperstown.
A WISEMAN ONCE SAID THAT SARCASM A TOOL OF THE WEAK. I DON'T CARE, I'M DOING IT ANYWAY.
Hey look, that's a picture of my favorite baseball player ever, Will "The Thrill" Clark. He was probably the best firstbaseman the game has ever seen, I mean, gah, he hit a homerun off Nolan Ryan during his first major league at bat. In his fifteen major league seasons, he hit 285 homeruns, 1205 RBI's, stole 67 bases, and had a .303 batting average. Clark even won a gold glove for his unparrelled work in the field. Name me one first baseman that has better numbers than that. I KNOW you can't!!
But it wasn't his on-the-field talented that seperated from the other dominant players of his era, it was his good heart. Kids everywhere loved Will Clark. His kindness and love of the game were inspirational to an entire generation. According to one highly regarded former big league pitcher and Clark fan, John Rocker, "The Thrill was so great for baseball because he understood the game was about the fans, more specifically the kids."
Kids understood this, and during the late 1980's a cult of personality began to develop among Clark's younger fans called "Thrillermania." Clark understood that he had a rare opportunity to have a positive impact on kids lives everywhere, and quickly began to use his fame to remind kids "to just say no" to drugs, tell their parents to end aparthide in South Africa, and love their neighbor like they love themself.
And it was this characteristic, loving his neighbor, which is best exemplified by Clark's never ending willingness to sing autographs, spend time with sick fans, and share his financial wealth with his home community that was Clark's biggest contribution to the game of baseball. Clark was a great player on the field, but an even better person off the field. This is why we here at Rants and Cravings look forward to seeing Will Clark in the Hall of Fame.
BLOGGUS NOTUS: ALTHOUGH THE STATISTICS CITED ARE TRUE, EVERYTHING ELSE MENTIONED IN THIS POST IS A COMPLETE FABRICATION OF THE AUTHOR.