Cup of Coffee: Ginger Clark

Ginger Clark is sort of the Shohei Ohtani of #CupOfCoffee players. Clark pitched in one game, a Cleveland Bronchos 17-11 victory over the Baltimore Orioles. Not only did Clark win the game but he also picked up a pair of hits and scored two runs.  It was the only game Ginger Clark ever played, while it may not have been his choice but Clark retired with an undefeated record as a pitcher and a .500 Batting Average as a batter.   

Sketch of Ginger Clark on a Disposable Coffee Cup

T205 is not exactly the right time frame for Ginger Clark but it is close enough and I love the colorful design. The bats and ball are basic to T205, here they do double duty with the bats representing Clark's two hits and the ball his sole win. At the bottom of the cup we have the date of the game 1902 August 11.  

Extra Innings

According to his SABR Bio Ginger Clark kicked around the minor leagues until 1911 after which he went into business as a paint contractor, the same business as his father. I have added some detail photos here to show some of the tools of trade including this paint brush on the left of the card

and a paint roller on the right

Cleveland/SABR 54 CupOfCoffee Index

This post will also serve as an index to our columns on Cleveland Related CupOfCoffee players. Some of these were inspired but SABR54 which was hosted in Cleveland

Ginger Clark: above
Ralph Gagliano: Played one game prior to being drafted into the Army

Elmer Gedeon: Killied in WWII
Willie Mueller: Appeared in the film "Major League"
Jim Rittwage: Pitched a shutout in first Major League start.

Sources and Links

Cup of Coffee Index

SABR54 Cleveland Cup of Coffee Sub-Index

SABR Bio - Chris Rainey
Baseball-Reference