While sorting out some old issues of Baseball Digest today, I came across a 20-year-old issue declaring Will Clark would be among the superstars of the 1990s. At the time (July 1989), it seemed like an easy prediction to make. Will the Thrill was one of the best players in the National League from 1987 through 1991 and was destined to have a Hall of Fame career. So what happened?

Will Clark lost some of his power in 1992, and then he lost everything in 1993. His slugging was down to .432 and he hit only 14 home runs. He never fully recovered from that season, although he did put up decent numbers as he finished his career with the Rangers, Orioles, and finally the Cardinals. He ended up with a .303 career batting average and 1200 RBI. Still, these weren’t the numbers expected from someone who was supposed to be the superstar leading the Giants in the 90s. He received 4.4% of votes from writers on his first Hall of Fame ballot, falling below the 5% level required to stay on the ballot the following year.

I think Giants fans will always look fondly on that golden age of baseball when we had Clark and Kevin Mitchell and came just 4 games away from a championship.

Tags: giants, kevin mitchell, san francisco giants, will clark