A Show of Hands

Today is the birthday of Mark Clear, born in Los Angeles, California, 1956.

Son of a ballplayer, he liked to work with his hands. At Northview high in Covina, Clear lettered in football and baseball, then spent afternoons helping his best friend’s family on their avocado ranch — pruning trees, picking fruit, and learning how to handle things with care.

His hands would take a beating on the mound. At 6-foot-4 and 200 pounds with a plus fastball and a lights-out curveball, Clear had the stuff to dominate. His teammate Bob Stanley said the pitch made “every right-handed hitter know what it’s like to be the kid on your Little League team that batted ninth.” But when coming up as a starter in the California Angels system, Clear developed blood blisters in his fingers anytime he pitched 6+ innings. One day, a trainer with Single-A Salinas told him to soak his finger in formaldehyde, a trick he would use throughout his Major League years to prevent bleeding.

Control was his other battle. In his first year in the minors, he finished with an 8.65 ERA. “I’d just rear back and throw,” he said. Peter Gammons compared his motion to “a jerky, sweeping dump truck.” But after a move to the bullpen — and some mechanical work with his uncle Bob, a coach for the Angels — he found his rhythm. He debuted that season on a staff that included Nolan Ryan and Frank Tanana. In his rookie year, Clear posted an 11-5 record and a 3.63 ERA. He finished third in the AL Rookie of the Year voting.

He never quite settled into the role. Some years he closed. Some years he got shelled. But he hung around — soaking, tweaking, and adjusting for the Angels, Red Sox, and finally the Brewers. He finished his career a two-time All Star and had two seasons with 100+ strikeouts, a feat only one other reliever had accomplished at the time.

When it ended, he kept working with his hands. Clear founded Loma Vista Nursery, now one of the nation’s leading wholesale suppliers of trees and plants. He co-runs the company with his daughter, Lyndsi. Whether or not he still uses the formaldehyde trick for planting trees is unknown.

Ohtani Throws Live BP, More A’s Frustration, and Skubal Throws a Maddux

• New Digs No Good? – As if the Athletics and their fans haven’t suffered enough in recent years, the team already seems frustrated with their minor league home.

• Ohtani (the pitcher) Checks Another Box – On Sunday, Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani threw live BP for the first time in over a year and a half. While we’re on the subject, check out this abbreviated history of two-way players, published last year.

• Rub Some…Wine On It? – Orioles announcer Melanie Newman took a foul ball to the head over the weekend. Rob Refsnyder, the player who hit it, gave her a present to apologize. Unfortunately, she’s allergic.

• Skull Throws a Maddux – Tigers ace Tarik Skull threw a “Maddux” on Suday. That is, a complete game shutout on fewer than 100 pitches. Here’s a list of the last 200 such outings.

• Who Needs a Hit? – Last night, the Padres stole home on a wild pitch for a walk-off in extra innings.

5/27/2025

Grand Larceny in New York

• 1904 — Dan McGann steals five bases playing against the Brooklyn Superbas, setting an NL record. 70 years later, Davey Lopes would steal five. And in 1991, Otis Nixon would steal six.