Fred Clarke was born on a farm near
Winterset, Iowa. At age two, his family moved as part of a
covered wagon caravan from Iowa to
Kansas before relocating to
Des Moines, Iowa, five years later. As a child in Des Moines, Clarke sold newspapers for the
Iowa State Register where his boss was future Baseball Hall of Fame member,
Ed Barrow. In 1892, a professional team in
Hastings, Nebraska sent a railroad ticket to Des Moines semiprofessional player Byron McKibbon, but McKibbon backed out and gave the ticket to Clarke instead. Clarke impressed the Hastings team and he signed his first professional contract. He was in the
Southern League at age 21 and played for teams in
Montgomery, Alabama, and
Savannah, Georgia. In his first game, he collected five
hits in five
at bats which is still a Major League record. In his second season, he asserted himself with a batting average of .347, 191 hits and 96
runs, which were all best on the team by far. In 1897, Clarke took over managerial duties while only 24 years old. As a player, he hit a career-high .390. Only the best average of
Willie Keeler's career stopped Clarke from winning his only batting title. (For many years, Clarke's 1897 average was listed as .406, but further research led most official sources, including
MLB.com, to list it at .390.) Despite Clarke's excellent hitting and the presence of fellow Hall of Famers
Honus Wagner and
Rube Waddell, the team struggled for several years. While in Louisville, Clarke was teamed up with pitcher
Chick Fraser. Clarke and Fraser became
brothers-in-law when they married sisters. When the Colonels folded, Barney Dreyfuss became the owner of the Pittsburgh franchise and tapped Clarke, Wagner, Waddell,
Deacon Phillippe, and others to accompany him. ==Pittsburgh==