Clarence Blethen

Who was Clarence Blethen?

Clarence Waldo Blethen was an American professional baseball pitcher with the Boston Red Sox and Brooklyn Robins of Major League Baseball as well as 18 seasons in minor league baseball. Blethen batted left-handed and threw right-handed. Blethen attended the University of Maine, where he played college baseball for the Black Bears from 1912 to 1915.

Blethen spent 18 years in organized baseball, almost all of it in the minor leagues. He pitched briefly for the Boston Red Sox in 1923 and did not have another opportunity until 1929, when he played with the Brooklyn Dodgers. In seven major league games, he had no decisions and posted a 7.32 ERA with two strikeouts in 19-2⁄3 innings pitched.

Blethen, who had false teeth and would put them in his back pocket when he was running the bases, only reached base once in his big-league career — in 1923 with the Red Sox. He slid into second base that day, and the false teeth took such a big bite out of his posterior that he was removed from the game because of excessive bleeding.

Following his majors career, Blethen spent seven years with the Atlanta minor league club winning 20 or more games in two seasons. He also played for several teams and managed Leaksville and Savannah in the late 1930s. After that, he took an active part in coaching little leaguers until the mid-sixties.