Early Years
Born in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Clarkson was one of five sons of a prosperous jeweler. Clakson had two brothers who were also major league pitchers: Dad Clarkson and Walter Clarkson. The three Clarkson brothers rank third in wins by brothers behind the Niekro and Perry brothers. The Clarkson's also had two maternal cousins, Walter Hackett and Mortimer "Mert" Hackett who played professional baseball.
After attending business school and playing semipro ball, Clarkson signed as a free agent with the Worcester Ruby Legs of the National League in 1882. Clarkson played his first major league game at age 20 on May 2, 1882. He played in three games for the Ruby Legs, finishing with a 1-2 record in 24 innings. The Worcester team folded after the 1882 season, and Clarkson pitched in the minors the following two years.
Read more about this topic: John Clarkson
Famous quotes containing the words early and/or years:
“Love is the hardest thing in the world to write about. So simple. You’ve got to catch it through details, like the early morning sunlight hitting the gray tin of the rain spout in front of her house. The ringing of a telephone that sounds like Beethoven’s “Pastoral.” A letter scribbled on her office stationery that you carry around in your pocket because it smells of all the lilacs in Ohio.”
—Billy Wilder (b. 1906)
“a voice still so hollow
That it seems to call out to me from forty years ago,
When you were all aglow,
And not the thin ghost that I now frailly follow!”
—Thomas Hardy (1840–1928)