Tony Clark

Anthony Christopher Clark (born June 15, 1972) is an American professional baseball player and executive.

The Detroit Tigers selected Clark out of high school with the second overall pick in the 1990 MLB draft.

He played in Minor League Baseball while attending college and playing college basketball.

Clark played college basketball at the University of Arizona and San Diego State University, where he was the San Diego State Aztecs' top scorer with 11.5 points per game in 1991–92.

Clark left college (and ended his basketball career) without finishing his business administration degree in order to focus on baseball.

In a 15-year career, Clark hit .262 with 251 home runs and 824 run batted in (RBIs) in 1,559 games played.

He played in Major League Baseball as a first baseman from 1995 to 2009 and is the sixth executive director of the Major League Baseball Players Association (MLBPA), a position he has held since 2013.

Clark had his best years with the Detroit Tigers (1995–2001), but also played on the Boston Red Sox, New York Mets, New York Yankees, Arizona Diamondbacks, and San Diego Padres during a 15-year career that ended in 2009.

He was a switch hitter, and threw right-handed.

He was third in Rookie of the Year voting in 1996, and was an All Star in 2001.

He was third in Rookie of the Year voting in 1996 when he hit .250 with 27 home runs.

His most productive seasons were 1997, with 32 HRs and 117 RBIs (10 errors at first base), 1998, with 34 HRs and 103 RBIs (13 errors at first), and 1999, with 31 HRs and 99 RBIs (10 errors at first).

Clark was selected an All-Star in 2001.

With Clark eligible for salary arbitration and expected to earn $7 million for the 2002 season, the Tigers placed Clark on waivers, and he was claimed by the Boston Red Sox.

In 2002, Clark hit only .207 with 29 RBIs and three HRs for Boston in 90 games, with a career-low .291 slugging percentage.

A free agent after the 2002 season, Clark signed a one-year contract with the New York Mets for the 2003 season.

In 2003, he batted .232 for the Mets.

Signed as a bench player, Clark filled in for the New York Yankees in 2004 after Jason Giambi was forced out of the lineup because of an injury, though he was replaced as the main first baseman by John Olerud late in the season.

During an August 28 game, Clark hit a career-high three home runs in an 18–6 rout of the Blue Jays in Toronto.

Clark signed with the Arizona Diamondbacks after the 2004 season.

In a limited role (349 at bats) in the 2005 season, he hit .307 with 30 home runs, and 87 RBIs.

In 2006, Clark was injured for most of the season.

Although he tried to play through a shoulder injury that required significant surgery to repair, he batted a career-low .197, with a career-low .279 on-base percentage, in 132 at-bats.

He struggled especially against right-handers, batting .125 against them.

In 2007, Clark shared first base with Conor Jackson.

He played in 113 games and batted .249.

After the season, his contract was up and on February 10, 2008, Clark agreed to a one-year contract worth $900,000 with the San Diego Padres.

On July 17, 2008, he was traded back to the Diamondbacks for minor league pitcher Evan Scribner.

In order to complete the trade, Clark waived a clause under his contract with the Padres pursuant to which he was to receive $500,000 from the Padres if traded.

In 2008, between the two teams, Clark batted .225 with a .318 slugging percentage.

Clark struck out more than a third of the time, with 55 strikeouts in 151 at-bats.

He struggled especially against right-handers, batting .198 against them.

Clark filed for free agency after the 2008 season.

On January 2, 2009, he signed a one-year deal worth $800,000 to remain with the Diamondbacks.

Clark had a startling good performance on Opening Day 2009, hitting 2 home runs to lead the D-Backs to a victory over the Colorado Rockies; fellow switch-hitting teammate Felipe López also homered from both sides of the plate in the same game, making them the first teammates to do so on an Opening Day.

Clark was a union representative while he was a player, and after retiring he joined the staff of the MLBPA in 2010.

He served as deputy executive director and acting executive director of the union before he was appointed executive director in December 2013, upon the death of Michael Weiner.

Clark is the first former player to be executive director of the MLBPA.

Clark prepped at Valhalla High School in El Cajon, California, but after going out to dinner with principal Ed Giles and others, Clark transferred to nearby Christian High School.

He averaged 43.7 points per game in basketball in his senior season.