Will "The Thrill" had his number retired by the Giants Saturday

[CochiseCowbell]

I didn't catch this live, so I figured some of you might've missed it as well. Clark was my hero growing up.



Is it it odd that I wish that "Will Power" cereal was real?

Link to some official coverage: https://www.mlb.com/news/will-clark-s-number-retired-by-giants
I couldn't find any better videos to embed from the day.

Interesting that they played the Cubs considering his game (and series) her had against them and Maddux. The glove talking is rumored to have started after Clark read his lips and crushed that Grand Slam in the 89 NCS.

https://www.nbcsports.com/bayarea/g...ls-reading-greg-madduxs-lips-famous-nlcs-slam

To close the post two more videos, a fight with the Wizard of Oz (Maldonado off the top rope!) and quite possibly the best youtube clip of him "overmodulating":

 

[PBRME]

View attachment 24801

 

[Bulldog Bruce]

Good for him. He deserves it. My only thing that I wish was different and I am NOT blaming Will, is the move to the Rangers. That is Baseball with free agency just like NIL is part of College sports now. Looking back it would have been a better story if he stayed a Giant.

 

[blacklistedbully]

Good for him. He deserves it. My only thing that I wish was different and I am NOT blaming Will, is the move to the Rangers. That is Baseball with free agency just like NIL is part of College sports now. Looking back it would have been a better story if he stayed a Giant.

Hey Bruce, I was living in SF at the time, and was a huge Giants fan (& of course WC fan). Will wanted to return to the Giants, even saying he would prefer to spend his entire career there, but they low-balled him, then turned down an offer to come close to the Rangers deal. Had they not low-balled him to begin with, he most likely would have remained a Giant. He wanted a long-term deal with the Giants, but didn't get it. He'd played injured & saw his BA drop from .300 to .283. I guess the Giants didn't have enough confidence he would rebound to offer him that long-term deal. Of course, the very next year as a Ranger he was once again an All-Star. Over the next 7 seasons Will batted under .300 just once.

Every Giants fan I knew was pissed at the Giants for screwing that up. Everybody out here loved Will.

 

[Dawgg]

Since we were talking about contract clauses in the Kyler Murray thread, I still remember Will Clark's "54 Activities" that he was barred from doing (spelunking, chopping wood, pickup football, etc.).

I think he had to take out his own insurance or something like that to be able to hunt.

 

[CochiseCowbell]

Since we were talking about contract clauses in the Kyler Murray thread, I still remember Will Clark's "54 Activities" that he was barred from doing (spelunking, chopping wood, pickup football, etc.).

I think he had to take out his own insurance or something like that to be able to hunt.

I had not heard of this, a quick search brought this up: https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1991-07-06-sp-1369-story.html

General managers admit they’re cautious because of previous accidents. Clark, the San Francisco Giants’ first baseman, is prohibited from 54 activities, including wood-chopping, ice-boating (not a popular activity in Clark’s hometown of New Orleans) and spelunking, the sport of cave exploration.
“Al Rosen has been known to test the negotiating acumen of agents by flagging spelunking as one of the prohibited activities in a guaranteed baseball contracts,” said Clark’s agent, Jeff Moorad. “Being a veteran cave explorer, I was able to avoid the pitfall.”
Rosen, the Giants’ general manager, said he was serious about the spelunking ban.
“A number of years ago, I read an article about three people who had gotten lost in the Luray caverns in Virginia,” Rosen said. “It just occured to me with all the free time ballplayers have, they might find that to be something they want to do. To me, that has an element of danger to it. Now, the big sport out here is rock climbing, so I’m going to have to include that in the future.”
Clark didn’t seem to mind the restrictions in exchange for the $15 million over four years.
“OK, I won’t go in a cave,” he said.

 

[Dawgg]

I had not hear of this, a quick search brought this up: https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1991-07-06-sp-1369-story.html

General managers admit they’re cautious because of previous accidents. Clark, the San Francisco Giants’ first baseman, is prohibited from 54 activities, including wood-chopping, ice-boating (not a popular activity in Clark’s hometown of New Orleans) and spelunking, the sport of cave exploration.
“Al Rosen has been known to test the negotiating acumen of agents by flagging spelunking as one of the prohibited activities in a guaranteed baseball contracts,” said Clark’s agent, Jeff Moorad. “Being a veteran cave explorer, I was able to avoid the pitfall.”
Rosen, the Giants’ general manager, said he was serious about the spelunking ban.
“A number of years ago, I read an article about three people who had gotten lost in the Luray caverns in Virginia,” Rosen said. “It just occured to me with all the free time ballplayers have, they might find that to be something they want to do. To me, that has an element of danger to it. Now, the big sport out here is rock climbing, so I’m going to have to include that in the future.”
Clark didn’t seem to mind the restrictions in exchange for the $15 million over four years.
“OK, I won’t go in a cave,” he said.

Yep! I remember SportsCenter has a segment once called "Will Can't Do" that listed them all off. I think maybe jai-alai and bocce ball are also included. Funny... at that time $15 Million over 4 years was a king's ransom. Now, it's what an everyday outfielder gets.


ETA: Wow! I found it! It was the 'Upper Deck Stat of the Week':

 

[blacklistedbully]

The year prior to them drafting Will the Giants had lost 100 games for the first time in franchise history. They'd had losing seasons in 5 of the previous 7 seasons, narrowly avoiding a 6th by 1 game. Beyond Will's play the swagger & confidence he brought with him truly did rub off on the entire team. Just like at State, we knew, if Will came up to bat with the game on-the-line, we were going to win...period. And you got the feeling the other team knew it as well. Nobody left their seat when Will was at bat because you just knew he was going to come through in the clutch. You weren't hoping or praying he would come through...you knew he was going to.

It was a great time to be a Giants fan. When they failed to sign him we fans instinctively knew it was the end of an era.

 

[Seinfeld]

Clark was the first professional athlete from my youth that I viewed as genuine super hero, and it’s hard to describe the feeling to kids these days. For me, it was MJ, Montana, the Hulkster, and the Thrill.

Giants games didn’t make it on TV over here very often, but I rarely missed a game if they were either playing the Cubs, Braves, or on ESPN, and it felt about like watching an Avengers movie. Special time in my life, and I’m happy that he’s finally getting his number retired

 

[Bulldog Bruce]

That's good information. As I said I was not blaming Will at all. I got drafted by the Giants after my Junior Year and they would not give me any money at all. It would have been a much better fit for me than the Astros who drafted me the following year then told all of us in Spring Training that you can't hit HomeRuns in the Astrodome that's why we are built on speed. Wow what a smart organization!

Funny that Al Rosen was the General Manager of the Astros when I was there. Guess he hated MSU.

 

[blacklistedbully]

As much as I appreciate his skill & ability on the diamond, perhaps the thing I admire most about the guy is that he retired while still on his game with plenty of tread left, knowing he was risking a real shot at the HOF because his disabled son needed him to be home more.

That's what a real man of character & a father does. Still, I think it's a crime that dude isn't in the HOF.

 

[ClintonInHelen]

He hit it…