We don't yet know what Tony Clark's role will be on this team, but it looks like a promising pickup on the surface. You are talking about a 13 year veteran that is known for going about his business in a professional manner, always getting along with his teammates.
Clark comes back to his home town and seems happy to be coming home, where he went to high school and played ball at Christian High School. He grew up idolizing Tony Gwynne and Dave Winfield. He recalled that he and his wife were talking and "it's not that often you get an opportunity to play on a team professionally that you grew up watching."
He is a career .265 hitter with 224 doubles, 244 home runs and 789 RBI. Nothing that should make you go out and buy the domain name 162-0, but a solid bat off the bench, and solid veteran leadership for alot of these young gys.
I excpect a role comprised mostly of pinch hitting, a few spot starts at first, and god forbid an Adrian Gonzales injury, a backup at the same position. We are only commited to one year, and i imagine the option to resign for addditional one year terms with the San Diego discount.
When asked about the $900,000 contract, Clark said he received a number of offers from other clubs, but "the combination of San Diego, the success the ballclub has had, the talent that's there, it stood out above the other offers.
Welcome back Tony.
