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Who Was Jack Clifton?
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In June of 1951, the Alabama-Florida League weathered a crisis which nearly destroyed
the league. Ottis Johnson, a promising outfielder with Dothan was killed by a pitch thrown by Headland pitcher Harry « Jack » Clifton. Clifton was a dominant pitcher that season, winning 22 games and striking out 245 batters in 236 innings. Clifton could hit too. He batted .304 in 61 games, playing outfield on occasion. The story behind the beaning is covered elsewhere on this page, but this article deals with figuring out just who Jack Clifton was. I I’ve met quite a few former players and folks who grew up watching the AFL, and up until 2002, I’d never crossed paths with anyone who knew what became of Jack Clifton. What made me wonder even more about him was that I had received a couple emails from readers posing the question: Who was Jack Clifton? Actually, the question was, Which Jack Clifton was THE Jack Clifton?. One of the emails stated the belief that the Jack Clifton at Headland in 1951 was Jack R. Clifton. I had never questioned his identity before, assuming that the Headland pitcher was Harry « Jack » Clifton, as listed in the baseball guides for the year . Using Pat Doyle’s Old Time Database, I looked up the general records for both Cliftons, and I then found a third possibility, Henry Clifton: |
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Jack R.Clifton W L ERA AVG
Harry Clifton W L ERA AVG Henry Clifton W L ERA AVG 1941 Centerville 1 2 ** ** 1940 Goldsboro ** ** ** .234 1946 Manchester ** ** ** .329 1941 Canton 1 1 ** ** 1941 Goldsboro 0 1 ** .359 1947 Jacksonville ** ** ** .289 1942 Dayton 16 12 2.26 ** 1942 Burlington 5 0 3.20 .311 1950 Dublin 13 7 3.83 .267 1946 Roanoke 20 3 2.63 ** 1942 Richmond ** ** ** .304 1952 Dublin 2 4 6.95 ** 1948 Florence 3 2 5.70 ** 1943 Richmond ** ** ** .340 1953 Dublin 14 8 5.07 .291 1949 Florence 10 7 3.85 ** 1951 Headland 22 6 ** .304 1950 Florence 5 7 4.72 **
** Data Unknown |
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.Pat Doyle’s database is based on the annual baseball guides, so it shows Harry Clifton
as the Headland pitcher. Why would someone question that? Well, there certainly is nothing wrong with Pat’s database, but the guides on which the data was gathered were often incorrect, especially in reporting Class D teams. A number of players I’ve talked to tell me that the official record books have them playing for teams that they never played for, and sometimes their name is changed from one year to the next. So maybe there was something to this after all. As I looked at the three players’ stats, the first thing that I noticed was that neither Jack nor Henry are accounted for in 1951, leaving the possibility of mistaken identity. Clifton was a great pitcher in 1951, and was a strong hitter too. How did the players compare? Jack R. had a couple very good seasons at Dayton and Roanoke, winning 20 in 1946. Henry pitched pretty well in the early 1950’s and seemed to be a good hitter too. Harry did not have a notable season on the mound except for 1951, but he was definitely a good hitter, averaging over .300 for most of his career. So, whose past best fits the Headland pitcher? We don’t know what Jack R.’s batting average was, but he was the most prolific pitcher. Good enough to start to make me doubt what I knew to be true; nevertheless, I still felt that the Headland player was Harry Clifton, but I wanted a little proof. With little to go on, I started to dig around my sources that I’ve got for research (Newspapers, The Last Rebel Yell, by Ken Brooks, Pat Doyle’s Old Time Database, Minor League Encyclopedia, the Baseball Guide and Record Books, etc) »The Last Rebel Yell » states that Clifton had experience in « faster » leagues. All three Cliftons qualify on this point. In newspapers articles about the beaning, the reporters always use the name, Jack Clifton. This could lead someone to assume that Jack R., not Harry, was the Headland pitcher. The Minor League guide and record book lists the player as Harry Clifton. Outside of that , I was unable to find any evidence that would prove Harry, not Jack, was the Headland pitcher. Inquires about Clifton to some of the players who played against him drew blanks, no one had kept in touch, or could verify any more than what I already knew. The more I thought this over the more I wondered if I could find a way to resolve the question. As time passed, I kind of let the issue go dormant. Then a change of jobs landed me in Raleigh, North Carolina. While looking at a map of my new home state, I noticed the town of Goldsboro, 70 miles to the east. The name rang a bell and I went back to my Clifton notes and noticed that Harry had played there in 1940-41. One Saturday, I decided to take a drive to Goldsboro and see if I could find the answer. I got a hold of the 1940-41 Goldsboro Argus microfilms and started browsing. Late in the 1940 season, Jack Clifton started to appear in the sports pages. Once the 1941 season was in high gear, Clifton was the subject of much coverage because he was leading the entire league in batting. He did pitch on occasion, but only rarely. Finally, in a late September issue, after the season had ended, I found the only picture of Jack Clifton in the entire two years worth of newspapers. The picture immediately answered the question for me: Harry Clifton was Jack Clifton after all. The 1941 picture and the 1951 picture are definitely the same person |
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Feeling pretty pleased with the accomplishment, I put the original version of this
article on the web page in the fall of 2001 and moved on to other things. Then early in 2002, I received two emails within the same week, both talking about Jack Clifton. He was living in Georgia, retired from his post-baseball career. John Beasley, one of the emailers, not only knew Jack Clifton, but also knew Ottis Johnson’s nephew and brother. Also explained in one of the emails was the identity of Henry Clifton: He was Harry’s brother. After going about the process of trying to determine who Jack Clifton was, I was now in a position to hear his story directly from him. As I prepared to contact Clifton, a third email appeared, this one from baseball researcher Ray Nemec. Ray had talked to Clifton and had compiled a complete record of his career. What had been such a mystery 6 months before was really not much of a mystery after all, but it was fun playing detective for a while. I did call Clifton and I related a bit of my search to figure out who he was. I’m sure he found it amusing, and he was probably wondering what all the fuss was about. |
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Jack Clifton in 1941 with the
Goldsboro Goldbugs |
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Jack Clifton in 1951
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