| Jack Clements | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Catcher | |
| Born:(1864-07-24)July 24, 1864 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. | |
| Died: May 23, 1941(1941-05-23) (aged 76) Norristown, Pennsylvania, U.S. | |
Batted: Left Threw: Left | |
| MLB debut | |
| April 22, 1884, for the Philadelphia Keystones | |
| Last MLB appearance | |
| October 2, 1900, for the Boston Beaneaters | |
| MLB statistics | |
| Batting average | .287 |
| Home runs | 77 |
| Runs batted in | 687 |
Stats atBaseball Reference  | |
| Teams | |
As player
As manager | |
John J. Clements (July 24, 1864 – May 23, 1941) was an American professionalbaseball player. He played as acatcher inMajor League Baseball for 17 seasons. Despite being left-handed, Clements caught 1,076 games, almost four times as many as any other left-handed player in major league history[1] and was the last left-hander to catch on a regular basis.[2] He is credited with being the first catcher to wear a chest protector.[3]
Born inPhiladelphia, Clements began his major league career in 1884 in theUnion Association.[4] He played as a catcher/outfielder for thePhiladelphia Keystones until the team folded in August.[5] Clements then went to theNational League, signing with thePhiladelphia Quakers to finish the year.[4]
Clements spent the next 13 seasons with the Quakers (who became the Phillies in 1890), and became the team's regular catcher in 1888.[4] He also served as aplayer-manager during part of the 1890 season when managerHarry Wright suffered temporaryblindness.[6][7] During the 1890s, he established himself as one of the National League's top hitters, finishing among the top 4 inbatting average on 3 occasions.[4] Clements also hit for power, finishing second in the NL with 17home runs in 1893 and finishing third in the NL with 13 in 1895.[4] Also in 1895, he finished with a .394 batting average, the highest single-season average by a catcher in major league history.[8]
After the 1897 season, Clements was traded to theSt. Louis Browns. He played one season for the Browns, during which he became the first player (of either handedness) to catch 1,000 games in his career.[6]
Before the 1899 season, Clements was assigned to theCleveland Spiders. The move took place after Spiders owners Frank and Stanley Robison purchased the Browns and re-distributed players among the two franchises.[6] Clements appeared in only 4 games for the Spiders before being released.[4]
He played his final Major League season in 1900, playing in 16 games for theBoston Beaneaters.[4]
At the time of his retirement, he held the single-season and career records for home runs by a catcher. Both of his records were broken byGabby Hartnett in the 1920s; the single-season record fell in 1925, while the career record fell in 1928.[9] Clements is also the only 19th-century baseball player of prominence to retire with more home runs thantriples.[6]
In 1160 games over 17 seasons, Clements posted a .287batting average (1231-for-4295) with 619runs, 226doubles, 60triples, 77home runs, 687RBI, 341bases on balls, .348on-base percentage and .421slugging percentage.[4]
He died of an illness inNorristown, Pennsylvania, in 1941, at age 76.[10] He is buried atArlington Cemetery inDrexel Hill, Pennsylvania.
In hisHistorical Baseball Abstract,Bill James ranked Clements as the 58th greatest catcher in baseball history.[3]