View source for Clark Griffith

{{Short description|American baseball player, manager, and owner (1869–1955)}}
{{distinguish|text=his nephew, Canadian-born team owner [[Calvin Griffith]] (1911–1999)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2024}}
{{Infobox baseball biography
|name=Clark Griffith
|image=Clark Griffith LCCN2016840561 (cropped).jpg
|position=[[Pitcher]] / [[Manager (baseball)|Manager]] / [[Owner]]
|birth_date={{Birth date|1869|11|20}}
|birth_place=[[Clear Creek Township, Cooper County, Missouri|Clear Creek, Missouri]], U.S.
|death_date={{death date and age|1955|10|27|1869|11|20}}
|death_place=[[Washington, D.C.]], U.S.
|bats=Right
|throws=Right
|debutleague = MLB
|debutdate=April 11
|debutyear=1891
|debutteam=St. Louis Browns
|finalleague = MLB
|finaldate=October 7
|finalyear=1914
|finalteam=Washington Senators
|statleague = MLB
|stat1label=[[Win–loss record (pitching)|Win–loss record]]
|stat1value=237–146
|stat2label=[[Earned run average]]
|stat2value=3.31
|stat3label=[[Strikeout]]s
|stat3value=955
|stat4label=Managerial record
|stat4value=1,491–1,367–59
|stat5label=Winning %
|stat5value={{winning percentage|1491|1367}}
|teams=
'''As player'''
* [[St. Louis Browns (AA)|St. Louis Browns]] ({{Baseball year|1891}})
* [[Boston Reds (1890–91)|Boston Reds]] ({{Baseball year|1891}})
* [[Chicago Cubs|Chicago Colts / Orphans]] ({{Baseball year|1893}}–{{Baseball year|1900}})
* [[Chicago White Sox|Chicago White Stockings]] ({{Baseball year|1901}}–{{Baseball year|1902}})
* [[New York Highlanders]] ({{Baseball year|1903}}–{{Baseball year|1907}})
* [[Cincinnati Reds]] ({{Baseball year|1909}}–{{baseball year|1910}})
* [[Washington Senators (1901–60)|Washington Senators]] ({{Baseball year|1912}}–{{Baseball year|1914}})
'''As manager'''
* [[Chicago White Sox|Chicago White Stockings]] ({{Baseball year|1901}}–{{Baseball year|1902}})
* [[New York Highlanders]] ({{Baseball year|1903}}–{{Baseball year|1908}})
* [[Cincinnati Reds]] ({{Baseball year|1909}}–{{Baseball year|1911}})
*[[Washington Senators (1901–60)|Washington Senators]] ({{Baseball year|1912}}–{{Baseball year|1920}})
'''As owner'''
* [[Washington Senators (1901–60)|Washington Senators]] ({{Baseball year|1920}}–{{Baseball year|1955}})
|highlights=
* [[List of Major League Baseball annual ERA leaders|MLB ERA leader]] (1898)
* [[Washington Nationals#Ring of Honor|Washington Nationals Ring of Honor]] 
* [[Chicago Cubs#Cubs Hall of Fame|Chicago Cubs Hall of Fame]]
|hoflink = National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum
|hoftype = National
|hofdate=[[1946 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting|1946]]
|hofmethod=Old-Timers Committee
}}

'''Clark Calvin Griffith''' (November 20, 1869 – October 27, 1955),<ref name="nytimesobit">{{cite news | title=Clark C. Griffith of Senators Dies | url=https://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=FB0711F73A5E107B93CAAB178BD95F418585F9 | format=PDF, fee required | work=The New York Times | page=25 | date=1955-10-28 | access-date=2008-10-12}}</ref> nicknamed "'''the Old Fox'''", was an American [[Major League Baseball]] (MLB) [[pitcher]], [[manager (baseball)|manager]] and team owner. He began his MLB playing career with the [[St. Louis Browns (NL)|St. Louis Browns]] (1891), [[Boston Reds (1890–91)|Boston Reds]] (1891), and [[Chicago Cubs|Chicago Colts/Orphans]] (1893–1900). He then served as [[Player-coach#Player-manager|player-manager]] for the [[Chicago White Sox|Chicago White Stockings]] (1901–1902) and [[New York Highlanders]] (1903–1907).

He retired as a player after the 1907 season, remaining manager of the Highlanders in 1908. He managed the [[Cincinnati Reds]] (1909–1911) and [[Washington Senators (1901–60)|Washington Senators]] (1912–1920), making some appearances as a player with both teams. He owned the Senators from 1920 until his death in 1955. Sometimes known for being a thrifty executive, Griffith is also remembered for attracting talented players from the [[National League (baseball)|National League]] to play for the upstart [[American League]] when the Junior Circuit was in its infancy. 

Griffith has the second-most [[Tie (draw)#Baseball|ties]] by a manager in MLB history, with 59. He trails only [[Connie Mack]], who has 76 ties and holds the record for managing the most games in MLB history, with a total of 7,755 games, 4,838 more than Griffith. Additionally, 25 managers have managed more games than Griffith’s 2,917, making the incidence of ties in his managerial career significantly higher than any other manager in Major League history.<ref>{{Cite web |title=List of all baseball managers in the major leagues |url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/managers/index.shtml |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240527043716/https://www.baseball-reference.com/managers/index.shtml |archive-date=May 27, 2024 |access-date=June 28, 2024 |website=[[Baseball-Reference.com]]}}</ref> 

Griffith was elected to the [[National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum|National Baseball Hall of Fame]] in 1946.

==Early life==
Clark Calvin Griffith was born on November 20, 1869, in [[Clear Creek, Missouri]], to Isaiah and Sarah Anne Griffith. His parents were of Welsh ancestry. They had lived in Illinois before Clark Griffith's birth. The family took a covered wagon west toward the [[Oklahoma Territory]]. Along the way, the family encountered hungry and disenchanted people returning from the Oklahoma Territory, so they decided to settle in Missouri. Griffith grew up with five siblings, four of them older.<ref>Leavengood, p. 9</ref>

When Griffith was a small child, his father was killed in a hunting accident when fellow hunters mistook him for a deer.<ref name=NDM>{{cite news|title=Clark Griffith was raised near Sheldon|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1908&dat=19111011&id=3WsfAAAAIBAJ&pg=5549,3719764|access-date=January 1, 2015|work=[[Nevada Daily Mail]]|date=October 11, 1911}}</ref> Sarah Griffith struggled to raise her children as a widow, but Clark Griffith later said that his neighbors in Missouri had been very helpful to his mother, planting crops for her and the children. Fearing a [[malaria]] epidemic that was sweeping through the area, the Griffith family moved to [[Bloomington, Illinois]].<ref name=NDM2>{{cite news|last1=Bradham|first1=Kelly|title=Clark Griffith: Baseball great|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1908&dat=19730603&id=NmAfAAAAIBAJ&pg=6514,1811292|access-date=January 1, 2015|work=[[Nevada Daily Mail]]|date=June 3, 1973}}</ref>

A childhood incident taught him about the money side to baseball, Griffith recalled. When he was 13, he and a few other young boys had raised $1.25 to buy a baseball. They sent one of the boys 12 miles on horseback to make the purchase. The ball burst the second time that it was struck. Griffith later found out that the boy who purchased the ball only spent a quarter, keeping the leftover dollar.<ref name="PBP">{{Cite news |last=Gilmore |first=Eddy |date=1940-02-25 |title=Clark Griffith Continues Colorful Baseball Career |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-palm-beach-post-clark-griffith-conti/165692616/ |access-date=2025-02-16 |work=[[The Palm Beach Post]] |page=17 |via=[[Newspapers.com]] |agency=Associated Press}}</ref> At the age of 17, Griffith had made $10 pitching in a local baseball game in [[Hoopeston, Illinois]].<ref name=Lenehan>{{cite news|last=Lenehan|first=Michael|title=The Last of the Pure Baseball Men|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1981/08/the-last-of-the-pure-baseball-men/305825/|access-date=September 18, 2013|newspaper=[[The Atlantic]]|date=August 1, 1981}}</ref>

==Professional career==
===Minor leagues===
[[File:MilwaukeeBrewers1889.jpg|250px|thumb|left|The 1889 Milwaukee Creams, Griffith is front row on the left]]Griffith broke into organized baseball late in the 1887 with the local Bloomington club in the [[Central Interstate League]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=Thorn |first1=John |title=Clark Griffith Remembers |url=https://ourgame.mlblogs.com/clark-griffith-remembers-a1725d5f6500 |publisher=Our Game |access-date=30 January 2025 |date=14 January 2013}}</ref>  The following year, during an exhibition game against the [[Milwaukee Creams]] of the [[Western Association]], Griffith so impressed Milwaukee manager [[Jim Hart (baseball manager)|Jim Hart]] that he offered the 18-year old a contract at $225 a month.  Clark pitched for Milwaukee for three seasons before [[Charlie Comiskey]] convinced him to join the major leagues.<ref name="Grahek">{{cite web |last1=Grahek |first1=Mike |title=Clark Griffith |url=https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/clark-griffith/ |access-date=30 January 2025 |website=Society for American Baseball Research}}</ref>

===St. Louis Browns and Boston Reds (1891)===
Griffith entered the [[American Association (19th century)|American Association]] in 1891, pitching {{frac|226|1|3}} innings and going 11-8 for Comiskey's [[St. Louis Browns (NL)|St. Louis Browns]].  He was released in July of that year after developing a sore arm, and joined the [[Boston Reds (1890–91)|Boston Reds]] later that season.  After the 1891 season, the Association disbanded and he was left looking for new work.<ref name="Grahek"/>

===Back to the minors===
Griffith spent the next two seasons moving from independent minor league club to minor league club, playing in Tacoma, Washington, Missoula, Montana, and Oakland, California.  The leagues were unstable; he had 30 wins for Oakland when the club disbanded in August 1893, and Griffith performed on stage in Wild West variety shows in San Francisco's [[Barbary Coast, San Francisco|Barbary Coast]] [[red-light district]] before signing with the [[Chicago Colts]] in early September.<ref name="Grahek"/>

===Chicago Colts / Orphans (1893–1900)===
Griffith began the following season with the [[History of the Chicago Cubs|Colts]], and spent the rest of his playing career in the major leagues.  In 1893, the pitchers box was moved back; it had been 55 feet from home plate and was moved to the modern distance of 60 feet, six inches. Following that change, offensive numbers increased across baseball and many pitchers had to adjust their approaches.<ref name=Leavengood22and23>Leavengood, pp. 22-23.</ref> [[Cap Anson]] was the player-manager of the Colts during Griffith's tenure and he utilized a rotation of only three starting pitchers. Just before Griffith's arrival on the team, pitcher [[Bill Hutchison (baseball)|Bill Hutchison]] had thrown more than 600 innings in a single season for Anson, which may have contributed to a decline in Hutchison's career. Griffith tried a new pitch to increase his longevity. By modifying the grip of a [[curveball]], he threw a pitch similar to the [[screwball]] that [[Christy Mathewson]] had developed. He also often scuffed balls with his spikes or rubbed them in the grass.<ref name=Leavengood22and23/>

In 1894, Griffith began a string of six consecutive seasons with 20 or more victories, compiling a 21–14 record and 4.92 [[earned run average]] (ERA). Griffith lowered his ERA over the following years to a low of 1.88 in 1898, the lowest mark in the league.

==Managerial career==
===Chicago White Stockings (1901–1902)===
[[File:Clark Griffith 1903.jpg|250px|thumb|left|Griffith in 1903]]When [[Ban Johnson]], a longtime friend, announced plans to form the [[American League]], Griffith was one of the ringleaders in getting National League players to jump ship. Using the cover of his post as vice president of the League Protective Players' Association (a nascent players' union), Griffith persuaded 39 players to sign on with the new league for [[1901 in baseball|the 1901 season]]. Griffith himself signed on with the [[Chicago White Sox|Chicago White Stockings]] as [[player-manager]]. He won 20 games for the final time in his career and led the White Stockings to the first AL pennant with an 83&ndash;53 record.

===New York Highlanders (1903–1908)===
[[File:(Clark Griffith, Cincinnati, NL, at Hilltop Park, New York City (baseball)) LOC 2162670499.jpg|250px|thumb|right|Griffith at [[Hilltop Park]], 1909]]
At Johnson's suggestion, Griffith left Chicago in {{baseball year|1903}} to take over as manager of the [[New York Highlanders]]. The Highlanders had just moved from [[Baltimore]], and Johnson knew that for the league to be successful, it needed a strong franchise in the nation's biggest city. Griffith's last year as a regular player was {{baseball year|1907}} after he nearly suffered a breakdown from overwork in April 1907.<ref>{{cite news |author=<!--not stated--> |date=April 9, 1907|title=Clark Griffith Ill; Highlanders' Player Manager on Verge of a Breakdown|url= |work=Philadelphia, Inquirer|location=Philadelphia, Pennsylvania|page=10}}</ref>

After a falling-out with the Highlanders' ownership, Griffith was fired during the 1908 season. The team had started strong, but the team's pitching faltered as the season progressed and Griffith was criticized for trading away [[Jimmy Williams (second baseman)|Jimmy Williams]] in exchange for a disappointing prospect.<ref name=Duluth>{{cite news|title=Clark Griffith Never Had Chance to Resign, Was Summarily Dismissed from Highlanders|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=3hVmAAAAIBAJ&pg=4462,1248549|access-date=September 18, 2013|newspaper=Duluth Daily Star|date=October 30, 1908}}</ref>

He made brief appearances as a player for the Reds (1909–1910) and Senators (1912, 1913 and 1914).<ref>[https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=3hVmAAAAIBAJ&sjid=4o8NAAAAIBAJ&pg=4462,1248549&dq=clark-griffith+highlanders&hl=en ''The Duluth Daily Star''] via Google News Archive Search</ref>

===Cincinnati Reds (1909–1911)===
Griffith returned to the National League as manager of the [[Cincinnati Reds]] in {{baseball year|1909}}. [[File:Managers Griffith & Chance LCCN2016820793.jpg|250px|thumb|left|Managers Griffith and [[Frank Chance|Chance]]]]

===Washington Senators (1912–1920)===
Late in the {{by|1911}} season, the American League's [[Washington Senators (1901-60)|Washington Senators]] needed to raise money to pay for the construction of their new park, National Park, which had been hurriedly built just days before the start of the season after its predecessor, [[Boundary Park]], burned down. Principal owner [[Thomas C. Noyes]] had been friends with Griffith, and asked one of his minority partners, Ed Walsh, to come to Washington as manager in {{baseball year|1912}}. At the same time, he also bought stock in the team as part of an effort to finance the construction of National Park. By selling the cattle on his Montana ranch, then mortgaging the ranch, Griffith was able to acquire a 10 percent stake in the Senators in two separate transactions totaling $27,000 (${{formatnum:{{Inflation|US|27,000|1912}}}} in {{inflation-year|US}} dollars), making him the team's largest single shareholder.<ref name=SABRSenators>{{cite web|url=https://sabr.org/bioproj/topic/washington-senators-i-team-ownership-history/|title=Washington Senators I team ownership history|author1=Andrew Sharp|publisher=[[Society for American Baseball Research]]|date=2017}}</ref> At the time, the franchise had little going for it other than star pitcher [[Walter Johnson]]. In the American League's first 12 years, the Senators had never had a winning record or finished higher than sixth.

To entertain the fans, Griffith hired [[Nick Altrock]] as a first base coach in his first season with Washington. Described as a "natural buffoon", Altrock engaged in lighthearted fun while coaching first base. He wrestled with himself, copied the motions of the pitcher and made the fans laugh with other antics.<ref name=Altrock>{{cite news|last=Kelly|first=John|title=Nick Altrock: A life rich in the stuff of D.C. baseball lore|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/nick-altrock-a-life-rich-in-the-stuff-of-baseball-lore/2011/09/20/gIQAv1f0iK_story.html|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130918212613/http://articles.washingtonpost.com/2011-09-20/local/35274603_1_senators-baseball-game-griffith-stadium|url-status=live|archive-date=September 18, 2013|access-date=September 18, 2013|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|date=September 20, 2011}}</ref> Griffith also engineered one of the biggest turnarounds in major league history, leading the Senators to second place. In nine years, his Washington teams only twice finished below fifth in the eight-team league.

Through this time, Griffith frequently clashed with the Senators executives, who were sometimes unwilling to spend the money he felt necessary to make the team a consistent winner. Noyes had died in the middle of the 1912 season and was succeeded as president by [[Benjamin Minor (baseball)|Benjamin Minor]]. Unlike Noyes, Minor insisted that Griffith clear all transactions with him. Griffith began an effort to increase his interest in the team. Along the way, he used his ties with [[United States Secretary of War|Secretary of War]] [[Newton D. Baker]] to keep the baseball season going past July after the government issued a "work or fight" order requiring all able-bodied men to either serve in the military or work in an essential occupation. Griffith persuaded Baker to allow ballplayers to perform military drills on the field with bats rather than rifles, allowing the season to go on through Labor Day.<ref name=SABRSenators/>

In late 1919, frustrated by continued resistance on the board, Griffith joined forces with [[Philadelphia]] grain broker William Richardson, a close friend of Mack's, to buy controlling interest in the Senators.<ref name=SABRSenators/> Minor was more than willing to sell, believing he could no longer devote attention to the team.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://mlb.mlb.com/content/printer_friendly/mlb/y2004/m09/d29/c875177.jsp|title=History of baseball in D.C.|publisher=[[Major League Baseball]]|date=September 29, 2004}}</ref> Griffith boosted his holdings to 44 percent, while Richardson bought a 40.4 percent stake. Richardson and Griffith quickly came to an agreement that allowed Griffith to vote Richardson's shares as well, effectively giving Griffith a commanding 84 percent controlling interest.<ref name=SABRSenators/> This all but assured his election as team president that November. At the same time, the Senators' home park, National Park, was renamed [[Griffith Stadium]].

Griffith stepped down as manager after the 1920 season to devote all his energy to the front office. He finished his managerial career with a 1,491–1,367 record. His 1,491 wins ranked 19th all-time as of 2005. During his managing tenure, Griffith had a tradition of treating the fans to a farce game as the final game of the season. This tradition is a factor in the inflation of Walter Johnson's minuscule ERA from 1.09 to 1.14 in 1913.

[[File:Detroit Tigers' Harry Heilmann, in a poorly executed slide, is tagged out by Washington Senators' third baseman Howard Shanks. Senators beat the Tigers 6-2 LCCN2005676969.jpg|250px|right|thumb|[[Harry Heilmann]], in a poorly executed slide, is tagged out by Washington Senators' third baseman [[Howie Shanks|Howard Shanks]], 1921.]]
Griffith was known for running the Senators on a shoestring. This was almost out of necessity; unlike most other owners, he had no income other than the Senators and Griffith Stadium. However, the [[Washington Redskins]] (who moved into the stadium in 1937 from Boston) and other tenants enabled him to turn a profit for 21 straight years.

He was known for his faith in young players. He twice entrusted 27-year-old players to manage his teams—[[Bucky Harris]] in {{baseball year|1924}} and [[Joe Cronin]] in {{baseball year|1933}}. Griffith's wagers appeared to pay off, as the Senators won the pennant in both years under their new youthful managers. In Harris' case, they won the [[1924 World Series]]. Cronin came to the team as a player when Griffith's friend [[Joe Engel]], a former Senators pitcher, was placed in charge of the [[Chattanooga Lookouts]] at [[Engel Stadium]]. Engel was the first to scout Cronin for the club and said, "I knew I was watching a great player. I bought Cronin at a time he was hitting .221. When I told Clark Griffith what I had done, he screamed, "You paid $7,500 for that bum? Well, you didn't buy him for me. You bought him for yourself. He's not my ballplayer – he's yours. You keep him and don't either you or Cronin show up at the ballpark." Cronin later married Griffith's niece, Mildred June Robertson.<ref name=Armour>{{cite book|last=Armour|first=Mark|title=Joe Cronin: A Life in Baseball|year=2010|publisher=[[University of Nebraska Press]]|isbn=978-0803229969|page=69|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nGZ9CyVWkmQC&pg=PA72}}</ref> He also leaned heavily on [[Joe Cambria]], a scout who frequently found talented Cuban players for Griffith.<ref name=SABRSenators/>

Ironically given his faith in young players, Griffith either would not or could not spend money on a [[farm system]], preferring to mine prospects from independent minor league teams. For a time, the Senators had only three minor league teams–the Class A1 (now [[Double-A (baseball)|Double-A]]) Lookouts, the Class B (equivalent to a short-season A team before 2021, and a [[Class A (baseball)|Low-A]] team since 2021) [[Charlotte Hornets (baseball)|Charlotte Hornets]], and the Class D (equivalent to a Rookie-level team today) [[Orlando Rays|Orlando Senators]]. This was a major reason why the Senators were unable to put together a consistent winner, especially after World War II.<ref name=SABRSenators/>

Through all of this, Griffith's hold on the team appeared secure. When Richardson died in 1942, his twin brother, [[George H. Richardson|George]], inherited his stake and voiced full confidence in Griffith. However, George died in 1948, triggering a series of events that almost cost Griffith control of the team. In {{baseball year|1949}}, after a string of mostly humdrum seasons, the Richardson estate sold its stake to [[John Jachym]], a businessman who had been a scout for the [[St. Louis Cardinals]] and [[Detroit Tigers]]. Griffith long believed he had the right to match any offer made by the Richardson estate, and was surprised when Jachym arrived at Griffith Stadium as part-owner. Jachym had no intention of being a silent partner, but Griffith was able to persuade his board to rebuff Jachym's effort to have any say in team affairs. He was particularly angered when Jachym expressed his fondness for longtime Cardinals general manager [[Branch Rickey]], whom Griffith had long detested. When Jachym proposed buying the [[Buffalo Bisons]] of the [[International League]], which would have given the Senators a Triple-A team for the first time, Griffith turned the request down out of hand.<ref name=SABRSenators/>

Frustrated at being shut out, Jachym sold his stake to [[H. Gabriel Murphy]] six months later.<ref name=SABRSenators/> However, Griffith understood that unless the team improved, the next vote would go against him. [[File:1937 all stars crop FINAL2.jpg|thumb|right|250px|The 1937 All-Star game, played at [[Griffith Stadium]], featuring seven Hall of Fame American League players. ([[Lou Gehrig]], [[Joe Cronin]], [[Bill Dickey]], [[Joe DiMaggio]], [[Charlie Gehringer]], [[Jimmie Foxx]], and [[Hank Greenberg]])]]

To protect himself, Griffith persuaded Murphy to sell him enough stock to give him 52 percent of the club, making Griffith majority owner in name as well as in fact. In return, Griffith gave Murphy right of first refusal on his shares should the Griffiths ever decide to sell. However, Griffith stubbornly resisted all efforts to modernize. For example, it would be 1955 before he hired as manager anyone who wasn't a current Senators or ex-Senators player.<ref>{{cite web |title=Washington Senators Managers (1901 - 1960) |url=https://www.baseball-almanac.com/mgrtmmt2.shtml |access-date=2025-02-16 |website=Baseball Almanac}}</ref> Additionally, he actively supported the [[St. Louis Browns]]' move to [[Baltimore]], a mere 30 miles north, as the [[Baltimore Orioles]], even though it would have almost certainly cut into the Senators' attendance.<ref name=SABRSenators/>

===Managerial record===
{| class="wikitable" style="font-size: 95%; text-align:center;"
|-
! rowspan="2"|Team !! rowspan="2"|Year !! colspan="5"|Regular season !! colspan="4"|Postseason
|-
!Games!!Won!!Lost!!Win %!!Finish!! Won !! Lost !! Win % !! Result
|-
|-style="background:#fdd"
![[1901 Chicago White Stockings season|CWS]]|| {{mlby|1901}}
||136||{{WinLossPct|83|53}}|| '''1st in AL''' || – || – || – || No postseason
|-
![[1902 Chicago White Stockings season|CWS]]|| {{mlby|1902}}
||134||{{WinLossPct|74|60}}|| 4th in AL || – || – || – || –
|-
! colspan="2"|CWS total ||270||{{WinLossPct|157|113}}|| || {{WinLossPct|0|0}} ||
|-
![[1903 New York Highlanders season|NYH]]|| {{mlby|1903}}
||134||{{WinLossPct|72|62}}|| 4th in AL || – || – || – || –
|-
![[1904 New York Highlanders season|NYH]]|| {{mlby|1904}}
||151||{{WinLossPct|92|59}}|| 2nd in AL || – || – || – || –
|-
![[1905 New York Highlanders season|NYH]]|| {{mlby|1905}}
||149||{{WinLossPct|71|78}}|| 6th in AL || – || – || – || –
|-
![[1906 New York Highlanders season|NYH]]|| {{mlby|1906}}
||151||{{WinLossPct|90|61}}|| 2nd in AL || – || – || – || –
|-
![[1907 New York Highlanders season|NYH]]|| {{mlby|1907}}
||148||{{WinLossPct|70|78}}|| 5th in AL || – || – || – || –
|-
![[1908 New York Highlanders season|NYH]]|| {{mlby|1908}}
||56||{{WinLossPct|24|32}}|| fired || – || – || – || –
|-
! colspan="2"|NYH total ||789||{{WinLossPct|419|370}}|| || {{WinLossPct|0|0}} ||
|-
![[1909 Cincinnati Reds season|CIN]]|| {{mlby|1909}}
||153||{{WinLossPct|77|76}}|| 4th in NL || – || – || – || –
|-
![[1910 Cincinnati Reds season|CIN]]|| {{mlby|1910}}
||154||{{WinLossPct|75|79}}|| 5th in NL || – || – || – || –
|-
![[1911 Cincinnati Reds season|CIN]]|| {{mlby|1911}}
||153||{{WinLossPct|70|83}}|| 6th in NL || – || – || – || –
|-
! colspan="2"|CIN total ||470||{{WinLossPct|222|238}}|| || {{WinLossPct|0|0}} ||
|-
![[1912 Washington Senators season|WSH]]|| {{mlby|1912}}
||152||{{WinLossPct|91|61}}|| 2nd in AL || – || – || – || –
|-
![[1913 Washington Senators season|WSH]]|| {{mlby|1913}}
||154||{{WinLossPct|90|64}}|| 2nd in AL || – || – || – || –
|-
![[1914 Washington Senators season|WSH]]|| {{mlby|1914}}
||154||{{WinLossPct|81|73}}|| 3rd in AL || – || – || – || –
|-
![[1915 Washington Senators season|WSH]]|| {{mlby|1915}}
||153||{{WinLossPct|85|68}}|| 4th in AL || – || – || – || –
|-
![[1916 Washington Senators season|WSH]]|| {{mlby|1916}}
||153||{{WinLossPct|76|77}}|| 7th in AL || – || – || – || –
|-
![[1917 Washington Senators season|WSH]]|| {{mlby|1917}}
||153||{{WinLossPct|74|79}}|| 5th in AL || – || – || – || –
|-
![[1918 Washington Senators season|WSH]]|| {{mlby|1918}}
||128||{{WinLossPct|72|56}}|| 3rd in AL || – || – || – || –
|-
![[1919 Washington Senators season|WSH]]|| {{mlby|1919}}
||140||{{WinLossPct|56|84}}|| 7th in AL || – || – || – || –
|-
![[1920 Washington Senators season|WSH]]|| {{mlby|1920}}
||152||{{WinLossPct|68|84}}|| 6th in AL || – || – || – || –
|-
! colspan="2"|WSH total ||1339||{{WinLossPct|693|646}}|| || {{WinLossPct|0|0}} ||
|-
! colspan="2"|Total<ref>{{cite web|title=Clark Griffith|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/managers/griffcl01.shtml|website=Baseball Reference|publisher=Sports Reference LLC|access-date=August 2, 2016}}</ref> ||2858||{{WinLossPct|1491|1367}}|| || {{WinLossPct|0|0}} || 
|}

==National Baseball Hall of Fame==
[[File:Clark Griffith, Cincinnati Reds, baseball card portrait LCCN2008676458.jpg|100px|thumb|right|[[T206]] Griffith [[baseball card]]]]
In 1939, sportswriter [[Bob Considine]] expressed disappointment that Griffith had not already been elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame. He referred to Griffith as "the real father of the American League", citing the fact that Griffith had been a key force in attracting National League players to join the American League teams in their initial years. He wrote that Griffith "belongs in any hall of fame where the elective body is composed of sports writers, for no other reason than that no sports writer ever came away from the old guy without a story. Some of them were even kindly stories."<ref name=Considine>{{cite news|last1=Considine|first1=Bob|title=Griffith nominated for Hall of Fame|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=336&dat=19391123&id=LJdOAAAAIBAJ&pg=6496,981408|access-date=January 1, 2015|work=[[Deseret News]]|date=November 23, 1939}}</ref>

Griffith had appeared on ballot for the second [[Baseball Hall of Fame]] election (1937), but he received 2% of the possible votes.<ref name=HOF37>{{cite web|title=1937 Hall of Fame voting|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/awards/hof_1937.shtml|publisher=[[Baseball-Reference.com]]|access-date=January 1, 2015}}</ref> In 1938, he received votes on only 3.8% of the submitted ballots.<ref name=HOF38>{{cite web|title=1938 Hall of Fame voting|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/awards/hof_1938.shtml|publisher=[[Baseball-Reference.com]]|access-date=January 1, 2015}}</ref> He received votes on 7.3% of ballots the next year.<ref name=HOF39>{{cite web|title=1939 Hall of Fame voting|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/awards/hof_1939.shtml|publisher=[[Baseball-Reference.com]]|access-date=January 1, 2015}}</ref> The Hall of Fame held only triennial elections for a few years.<ref name=HOFhist>{{cite web|title=Hall of Fame ballot history|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/awards/hall-of-fame-ballot-history.shtml|publisher=[[Baseball-Reference.com]]|access-date=January 1, 2015}}</ref> In 1942, 30.5% of voters submitted Griffith's name.<ref name=HOF42>{{cite web|title=1942 Hall of Fame voting|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/awards/hof_1942.shtml|publisher=[[Baseball-Reference.com]]|access-date=January 1, 2015}}</ref>

Griffith was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame by the Old Timers Committee in [[1946 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting|1946]]. He was honored at the induction ceremony the following year. According to author Dennis Corcoran, Griffith had attended the initial Hall of Fame induction ceremony in 1939 but that there is no evidence that Griffith came to the 1947 induction or any other ceremony.<ref name=Corcoran>{{cite book|last1=Corcoran|first1=Dennis|title=Induction Day at Cooperstown: A History of the Baseball Hall of Fame Ceremony|date=2010|publisher=McFarland|isbn=978-0786491476|page=50|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3dF2PsAeDeYC&pg=PA50|access-date=January 1, 2015}}</ref>

==Death and legacy==
[[File:Orlando Tinker Field Griffith mnmt01.jpg|111px|thumb|right|Memorial to Griffith at [[Tinker Field]] in [[Orlando, Florida|Orlando]]]]
In October 1955, Griffith was in the hospital with [[neuritis]] when he suffered a stomach hemorrhage.<ref name="Miami">{{Cite news |date=1955-10-23 |title=Baseball's Griffith on Critical List |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-miami-news-baseballs-griffith-on-cr/165691814/ |access-date=2025-02-16 |work=[[The Miami News]] |page=1 |via=[[Newspapers.com]] |agency=United Press}}</ref> Though he appeared to be improving, Griffith died a few days after he was hospitalized. He was nearing his 86th birthday.<ref name=TTN/>

After his death, newspaper accounts described Griffith's longtime relationships with U.S. presidents. During [[World War I]], he successfully petitioned [[Woodrow Wilson]] to allow the continuation of baseball. He did the same with [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]] during [[World War II]]. He had also begun a tradition of presidents throwing out the ceremonial first pitch at a season's first [[Opening Day]] game, which started with [[William Howard Taft]].<ref name=TTN>{{cite news|title=Baseball world mourns death of Clark Griffith|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1665&dat=19551028&id=GfdQAAAAIBAJ&pg=5650,6425356|access-date=January 1, 2015|work=[[Times-News (Hendersonville, North Carolina)|Times-News]]|date=October 28, 1955}}</ref> When the Baseball Hall of Fame was being built and was looking for baseball memorabilia, Griffith donated several photographs of these presidential first pitches.<ref>Corcoran (2010), page 13.</ref>

League president [[Will Harridge]] called Griffith "one of the game's all-time great figures."<ref name=Altschull>{{cite news|last=Altschull|first=Herb|title=Clark Griffith, Great Figure in Baseball History, Dies|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=TLRFAAAAIBAJ&pg=2146,6690170|access-date=September 18, 2013|newspaper=[[The Portsmouth Times]]|date=October 28, 1955}}</ref> Griffith was survived by his wife, who died of a [[myocardial infarction|heart attack]] two years later.<ref name=Mrs>{{cite news|title=Mrs. Clark Griffith dies of heart attack|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1817&dat=19571014&id=PfkcAAAAIBAJ&pg=5357,1877976|access-date=January 1, 2015|work=[[The Tuscaloosa News]]|date=October 14, 1957}}</ref> He and his wife had no children, but they raised several relatives.<ref name=GT>{{cite news|title=Clark Griffith, aged owner of Senators, dies|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2202&dat=19361020&id=x4g1AAAAIBAJ&pg=2077,170344|access-date=January 1, 2015|work=[[Gettysburg Times]]|date=October 20, 1936}}</ref> One of those relatives was [[Calvin Griffith]], who was informally adopted by Clark and Addie at the age of 11. Calvin took over the team after his uncle's death and led efforts to have the club moved to Minnesota and become the Twins. The younger Griffith held on to the team until 1984, when he sold it to [[Carl Pohlad]], thus ending the Griffith family's 65-year ownership of the franchise. Another nephew, [[Sherry Robertson]], played infield and outfield for the Senators and the [[Philadelphia Athletics]] in the 1940s and 1950s.<ref name=BRRob>{{cite web|title=Sherry Robertson Statistics and History|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/r/robersh01.shtml|publisher=[[Baseball-Reference.com]]|access-date=January 1, 2015}}</ref>

A monument was erected in honor of Griffith at Griffith Stadium. After the stadium was demolished in 1964, the obelisk was moved to [[Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium]], where the [[Washington Nationals]] played between 2005 and 2007.<ref name=Wood>{{cite web|last=Wood|first=Phil|title=A future moving experience|url=http://www.masnsports.com/phil_wood/2011/07/a-future-moving-experience.html|publisher=[[MASN]]|access-date=September 18, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130206200211/http://www.masnsports.com/phil_wood/2011/07/a-future-moving-experience.html|archive-date=February 6, 2013|url-status=dead}}</ref> A collegiate baseball league, the National Capital City Junior League, was renamed in honor of Griffith after his death.<ref name=CGL>{{cite web|title=History of the Clark Griffith League|url=http://www.clarkgriffithbaseball.com/about.html|publisher=Clark C. Griffith Collegiate Baseball League|access-date=September 18, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130903063848/http://clarkgriffithbaseball.com/about.html|archive-date=September 3, 2013|url-status=dead}}</ref> The league suspended operations in 2010.<ref name=CGLHome>{{cite web|title=Clark Griffith Baseball|url=http://www.clarkgriffithbaseball.com/|publisher=Clark C. Griffith Collegiate Baseball League|access-date=September 18, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080402065119/http://www.clarkgriffithbaseball.com/|archive-date=April 2, 2008|url-status=dead}}</ref>

==Gallery==
<gallery class="center">
File:WWilson1stBall1916.jpg|[[Woodrow Wilson]] opens the season at Griffith Stadium, April 20, 1916
File:PRESIDENT ROOSEVELT IS READY FOR THE OPENING DAY OF THE BASEBALL SEASON TOMORROW AS CLARK GRIFFITH, PRESIDENT OF THE WASHINGTON CLUB, PRESENTS HIM WITH A GOLD PASS.jpg|Griffith presents President [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]] with a gold pass
File:Clark Griffith, 1913 LCCN2016844644.tif|Clark Griffith as Manager of the [[History of the Washington Senators (1901–1960)|Washington Senators]], 1913
File:Wm. M. Richardson, Judge Landis, Clark Griffith, (10-2-24) LOC npcc.12192.jpg|W. M. Richardson, [[Kenesaw Mountain Landis|Judge Landis]] and Clark Griffith, 1924
File:Opening Day of 1961 Baseball Season. President Kennedy throws out first ball. (first row) Vice President Johnson... - NARA - 194197.jpg|[[John F. Kennedy]] throws out the first ball, Opening Day, April 10, 1961 is incorrectly attributed to the original Senators, (Moved to MN, inaugural season was 1961) as the expansion Senators team who would become the Texas Rangers were in place.
</gallery>

==See also==
{{Portal|Biography|Baseball}}
* [[List of Major League Baseball career wins leaders]]
* [[List of Major League Baseball annual ERA leaders]]
* [[List of Major League Baseball managers with most career ejections]]
* [[List of Major League Baseball managers with most career wins]]
* [[List of Major League Baseball player-managers]]
* [[List of Major League Baseball career hit batsmen leaders]]

==Notes==
{{reflist|30em}}

==References==
*{{cite book|last=Leavengood|first=Ted|title=Clark Griffith: The Old Fox of Washington Baseball|year=2011|publisher=McFarland|isbn=978-0786486267|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iPZ5mD44MLkC&pg=PA178}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Clark Griffith}}
*{{bbhof|griffith-clark}}
*{{baseballstats|br=g/griffcl01|brm=griffi003cla}}
*{{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061020182847/http://baseballindc.com/news/feature_articles_detail.asp?article_id=9 |date=October 20, 2006 |title=Washington Ball Club Feature article }} – stories and more complete biography
*[http://www.pantagraph.com/special-sections/news/history-and-events/normal-s-griffith-helped-establish-opening-day-tradition/article_bdccf5b4-5d81-11e0-95f3-001cc4c002e0.html Clark Griffith – Pantagraph] (Bloomington, Illinois newspaper)
*[http://www.pantagraph.com/news/local/pfop-south-hill-ballpark-launched-hall-of-fame-career/article_3b610117-82ef-5082-bdd0-47a18f3da026.html South Hill ballpark launched hall of fame career - Pantagraph] (Bloomington, Illinois newspaper)
*{{Find a Grave}}

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