Nov 20, 1869: Clark Griffith born

A mountain of a man

CLEAR CREEK, MISSOURI - Clark Griffith was born on this date in 1889. He would go on to be a marquee major league pitcher, manager and owner, despite his rather modest stature of 5'6", 156 lbs. Griffith won at least 20 games six years in a row for the Chicago National League franchise that would later be known as the Cubs (the team went by "Colts" and "Orphans" while Griffith played for them).

Griffith then moved on to the new team in town in a new league - the Chicago White Sox, leading them to the league's first pennant as player-manager in 1901. Not satisfied to merely play and manage he became owner of the Washington Senators franchise in 1920 and ran the team until his death in 1955.

Clark's son Calvin Griffith took over the Senators after his father's death, and in 1960 moved the team to the upper Midwest where they became, and remain, the Minnesota Twins. Calvin Griffith sold the team in 1984.

Contributing sources:
Clark GRiffith - Baseball-Almanac

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