Clark C. "The Old Fox" Griffith. Pitcher for the Washington Senators in 1912-1914. Debuted with the St. Louis Browns in 1891. 237 wins and 8 saves in 20 MLB seasons. Was 1898 MLB ERA leader. Managed the Chicago White Stockings (1901-1902), the New York Highlanders (1903-1908), the Cincinnati Reds (1909-1911), and the Washington Senators (1912-1920). Was principal owner of the Washington Senators from 1920 until his death in 1955. In 1946, was inducted to the MLB Hall of Fame.
From Griffith's SABR biography: Never a power pitcher, Clark relied on wiles and control to get batters out, utilizing a variety of breaking balls, trick pitches, and deceptive deliveries to befuddle his opponents. A master of the quick pitch, he would toss a strike over the plate before the batter was set.
He claimed to have invented the screwball while pitching on the West Coast in the early 1890s, and often experimented with the effects of friction on a pitched ball. One of his favorite tricks was to openly deface a new ball by gouging it on his spikes. Though the umpires often did nothing to discourage this, the Detroit club, after one particularly destructive game, presented Griff with a bill for eleven new baseballs.
After his playing days were over, he claimed to have never thrown a spitball during his career, but it is difficult to believe he would have ignored any opportunity to gain advantage over a batter. “He was the first real master of slow ball pitching, of control reduced to a science, of using his head to outwit batters,” said long-time New York sportswriter William B. Hanna. Chicago teammate Jimmy Callahan opined, “I will hand it unreservedly to [Christy] Mathewson as one of the greatest pitchers who ever lived. But I think that old Clark Griffith, in his prime, was cagier, a more crafty, if not a more brainy, proposition.”
Besides becoming a star pitcher, Clark also learned a thing or two about the business and politics of baseball and developed into a leader. He was the main catalyst in the April 1900 formation of the Ball Players Protective Association, an organization that didn’t accomplish much in the area of players’ rights, but one that played an important part in the successful launching of the American League.
Near the end of the 1900 season, in which he won only 14 games, Clark met with Ban Johnson and his old friend Comiskey to discuss the possibility of Johnson’s American League challenging the National League as a new major league. Comiskey and Johnson were clearly supportive of the notion, but feared, due to a lack of players, that it would be unsuccessful. Griff assured them he could get the players and advised them to wait until the owners meeting in December to do anything.
When the National League turned down an Association petition for better pay, he had the ammunition he needed to recruit players for the new league. Immediately going to work, he single-handedly convinced many NL stars to sign AL contracts. Of 40 players targeted by the American League to form the foundation of its rosters, Clark claimed to have signed all but one: Honus Wagner. Comiskey, in turn, signed Clark to manage his Chicago White Sox.
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