Jack Clark taunts the Mets

Baseball fans of a certain age (i.e. my age) will recall the Mets-Cardinals rivalry of the mid-to-late 1980s as just about the best in baseball. It’s been a long time since then so you have to figure the bad blood has subsided. In the case of Jack Clark — who was interviewed on Cardinals radio yesterday — you’d figure wrong. Here’s Clark on playing with Mets in the All-Star Game:

“I wanted to let them know I wasn’t glad to be there with them and their teammate, didn’t want to be on any team or be a teammate with them, and we were going to battle.

Here’s Clark on Gary Carter:

“[He] talked his way more into the Hall of Fame than deserving it . . . [it was] pretty sickening and disgusting to everybody else.”

Here’s Clark on Howard Johnson’s allegedly corked bat:

“That just goes to show those guys were trying to cheat and, you know, it didn’t end up working for them anyhow. So if his was corked, I’m sure a few other guys’ over there were corked, also.”

I think the only way to resolve this is an old-timers series between the 1985-87 Cardinals and the 1985-87 Mets. Anyone have Bob Forsch’s phone number?


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Ben
14 years ago

“it didn’t end up working for them anyhow”

Pretty sure the Mets won the 86 series…

Scafeets
14 years ago

Mabe he resents Hojo and Carter because they busted their butts to play better than their natural talents. By contrast, Clark was a teenage natural who played heavy, slow, and out of shape, making him a DL regular who only played in more than 140 games 5X in 18 years.

Travis M. Nelson
14 years ago

“…So if his was corked, I’m sure a few other guys’ over there were corked, also.”

Uh-oh.  Now it’s not just those damn slacker bloggers insinuating that players cheated, it’s other players, too! 

Of course, Jack Clark made millions of dollars in his playing career, so unless he got his financial advise at the Neverland Ranch, he probably doesn’t live in his mother’s basement.  That’s got to give his accusation some credibility, right?

Max
14 years ago

The current Mets could use some corked bats

…and cocaine.

Craig Calcaterra
14 years ago

Travis—I can’t tell if you’re being sarcastic or not, but if you aren’t, go check Clark’s wikipedia page to get a sense of his finances.  Dude may very well be eating Hot Pockets next to the hot water heater as we speak.

Travis M. Nelson
14 years ago

Holy crap, debts of over $11 million dollars.  What did he buy, a year of Darren Dreifort’s career-long DL stint?

And yes, that was sarcasm.

MatthewA
14 years ago

There are days when I look forward to being crotchety and old. Then I read comments like Clark’s and it gives that routine a bad name.

And the ‘85-‘87 Mets counts for an Old Timers game… I’m one step closer to old and crotchety.

Richard in Dallas
14 years ago

Is Strawberry available?  Or is he under some sort of house arrest?  And didn’t Doc blow his brains out a few years back?  Oh, that’s right, it misfired.  And Roger McDowell can’t come unless somebody finds him a rainbow afro wig….

That bunch of Mets certainly had their problems, but it was really fun to be a fan there and then.  It was the 84-89 Mets that solidified my fandom into adulthood….

Tom Seaver
14 years ago

Another reason why I hate the Little Red Birdies.  I would have to ask Jack Clark which cost the Little Red Birdies more in 1985: Jorge Orta and Don Denkinger or his inability to catch a pop up?  Kiss my Jack Clark, Jack Clark.

Jeff Mathews
14 years ago

Fortunately, no one associated with the Cards has ever cheated.

Conor
14 years ago

My wife is from St. Louis and she hates the Mets more than the Cubs. It could have something to do with the Cubs failures over the years, but that hatred is most certainly associated with their rivalry in the 80s. In her words: “The Mets are pondscum.”

Drew
14 years ago

In light of this, it’s particularly funny how one of the players who is often brought up in the litany of Mets’ miscreants over the years is Vince “Firecracker” Coleman, who of course figured prominently for those very Cardinals.

Richard in Dallas
14 years ago

Drew – Don’t forget that Coleman’s antics inspired a Seinfeld episode!

mike in brooklyn
14 years ago

Maybe the Old-Timer’s Game could be for charity—Clark and Dykstra.

And I LOVE when those Mets are called pondscum.  They’re all so nice now, it’s just disappointing.