Jack Clements

Who was Jack Clements?

John J. "Jack" Clements was a baseball player who played for 17 seasons in the Major Leagues. A catcher for nearly his entire career, despite being left-handed, Clements caught 1,073 games, almost four times as many as any other left-handed player in major league history and was the last left-hander to catch on a regular basis. He is credited with being the first catcher to wear a chest protector.

Born in Philadelphia, Clements began his major league career in 1884 in the Union Association. He played as a catcher/outfielder for the Philadelphia Keystones until the team folded in August. Clements then went to the National League, signing with the Philadelphia Quakers to finish the year.

Clements spent the next 13 seasons with the Quakers, and became the team's regular catcher in 1888. He also served as a player-manager during part of the 1890 season when manager Harry Wright suffered temporary blindness. During the 1890s, he established himself as one of the National League's top hitters, finishing among the top 4 in batting average on 3 occasions. Clements also hit for power, finishing second in the NL with 17 home runs in 1893 and finishing third in the NL with 13 in 1895. Also in 1895, he finished with a .394 batting average, the highest single-season average by a catcher in major league history.