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Royce Clayton: A Major League Journey for a Major League Shortstop
by Chris R. Lampe On April 5 of the 2007 major league baseball season, Royce Clayton trotted out to his shortstop position for the 1,985th time in his career establishing a new major league record! Wearing the jersey of the Toronto Blue Jays, Clayton became the first shortstop in major league history to wear the uniforms of ten big league teams. Falling by the wayside was the record he shared with fellow shortstops Jack Glasscock (1879-1895) and Rey Sanchez (1991-2005). Royce contributed a hit to the Blue Jays' season opening 5-3 victory over the Detroit Tigers. Seventeen and a half seasons earlier, Clayton had taken his shortstop position at San Jose Municipal Stadium for the San Jose Giants for the first time. It was on Friday, August 4, in a 6-5 San Jose loss to the Reno Silver Sox before a crowd of 1,487 fans. It was Clayton's fourth game with San Jose and he had gone hitless in his first twelve at bats in three games against the Salinas Spurs. Clayton would collect his first hit as a San Jose Giant in the loss to Reno. While Clayton sparkled in the field, his offensive contributions proved to be elusive in 1989. In 92 at bats, he hit an anemic .120. Clayton's journey had actually begun a year earlier when he was the number 1 draft pick of the San Francisco Giants as an eighteen year old. He debuted in 1988 with the Everett Giants of the Northwest League. He spent the first five months of 1989 in the Midwest League playing for the Clinton Giants. Royce returned to San Jose the next season and on opening day of the California League season in Visalia he assured everybody that he would only be in San Jose for a short time in 1990. As a prognosticator, Clayton received failing marks. As a ballplayer, Clayton became an All-Star. He stole 33 bases, clubbed 15 doubles, 10 triples and 7 home runs. He drove in 71 RBIs while batting .267. His fielding was superb and he was named to the mid-season California League All-Star team and was the shortstop on the post-season California League All-Star team. Clayton was also Baseball America's All-Star shortstop on their Class "A" All-Star team. He led San Jose to the Northern Division second half title and a spot in the Northern Division finals for the third consecutive year. At the beginning of the 1992 baseball season, The Sporting News named Clayton as their number 1 minor league prospect. After spending the majority of the 1992 season with the Double AA Shreveport Captains, Royce Clayton became a major league shortstop. He debuted with the San Francisco Giants on September 20 against the San Diego Padres. He collected his first hit, a double against Jeremy Hernandez. Clayton would spend five years with the parent club becoming only the third rookie in Giants history to be the opening day shortstop in 1992. 1993 was a glorious year for the San Francisco Giants. They won a franchise record 103 wins, but fell one game short of the Atlanta Braves for the National League Western Division crown. Clayton was a major contributor to the team's success. His .282 batting average led all major league shortstops. He drove in 70 RBIs and stole 11 bases. Twice, he had 11 game hitting streaks. In the field, he led all NL shortstops with 103 double plays. Three years later, Clayton found himself traded to the St. Louis Cardinals and placed in the awkward position of having to replace a future Hall of Fame shortstop named Ozzie Smith. He performed admirably. Playing in 129 games, he hit .277 and stole a career high 33 bases. From June 11 to July 24, he hit safely in 25 consecutive games. Clayton helped lead the Cardinals into the playoffs before losing the seventh game of the NLCS to the Atlanta Braves. His fielding was spectacular. At the plate, he hit in all seven of his post-season appearances, compiling a .346 batting average and a .433 on-base percentage. He followed up his stellar 1996 season with an all-star year in 1997. Clayton was honored with his selection to the 1997 All-Star game played in Jacobs Field in Cleveland. He was hitless in one at bat. At the plate during 1997, he established career highs with 39 doubles (9tb best in the National League) and 53 extra base hits. In the field, he led all NL shortstops with 699 total chances. In mid-season 1998, Clayton was traded to the Texas Rangers. In 1999, he set a career high with a .288 batting average, the highest average by a Texas shortstop since Scott Fletcher had hit .300 in 1986. He also collected his 1,000tb major league hit. In 1999 and 2000, he set single season highs with 14 home runs. Off the field, Clayton earned the respect and admiration of all as he was honored as the Texas Rangers' Roberto Clemente Man of the Year for both 1999 and 2000. In addition, he was presented the Jim Sundberg Community Achievement Award. 2001 found Clayton on the south side of Chicago playing for the White Sox. He set the all-time White Sox fielding percentage of .988, finishing second in the AL to Omar VizqueL His .392 September batting average was tops in the junior circuit. Clayton's next year was highlighted by a career best 69 game errorless streak with 319 chances. Additionally, his .989 fielding percentage broke the mark he had set the year before. In 2003 Clayton played shortstop for the National League Milwaukee Brewers. He helped the team improve 12 games in the standings and was walked intentionally 10 times, a career high. Clayton was on a 2004 Rocky Mountain High playing in Coors Field for the Colorado Rockies. He set single season highs with 160 hits, 9S runs, and 48 multihit games (second only to Todd Helton on the team). His 24 sacrifice bunts were the most in the major leagues since Jose Offerman's 25 in 1993 when he played for the Los Angeles Dodgers. Clayton also clubbed his 100tb major league home run. In the field, he had a Gold Glove season but did not win it. His .986 fielding percentage was tops in the senior circuit and broke the Colorado record set by Walt Weiss (.983) back in 1993. For the season, Royce had only 9 errors in 144 games. 2005 saw Clayton continue his tour of the National League with a one year stopover courtesy of the Arizona Diamondbacks. He would help the D'backs win 26 more games than they had in 2004. He would also collect his 1,700th hit. Last year saw Clayton split his time between the Washington Nationals and the Cincinnati Reds. On August 6, he played in his 2,000tb major league game versus the Atlanta Braves. 2007 has found Royce splitting his time with John McDonald for the starting shortstop position in Toronto. Injuries have also kept him on the bench. A career might be nearing an end. Going into the 2007 season, Clayton ranked second among active shortstops in games (1,984), starts (1,915), innings (16,864), total chances (8,979), putouts (3,022), assists (5,723), and double plays (1,193). In each of these categories, he trails only ll-time Gold Glover Omar Vizquel. What a magnificent career it has been. While no one would nominate Clayton for the Hall of Fame his numbers in comparison to the Hall of Fame shortstops are amazing. Of the twenty shortstops in the Hall of Fame, only four of them (Ozzie Smith, Cal Ripken, Jr., Rabbit Maranville, and Luke Appling) have played more games at shortstop. Clayton's 1,895 hits are more than Hall of Famers Lou Boudreau (1,779), Travis Jackson (1,768), Hughie Jennings (1,527), Phil Rizzuto (1,588), and Joe Tinker (1,687). His 110 career home runs are more than all the Hall of Fame shortstops except for six: (Ernie Banks (512), Joe Cronin (170), Travis Jackson (135), Pee Wee Reese (126), Cal Ripken, Jr. (431), and Robin Yount (251). Clayton's 231 steals are more than eleven of the twenty Hall of Fame shortstops. It is especially interesting to compare Clayton's lifetime marks with those of two Hall of Fame shortstops, both who won MVP awards during their careers. Boudreau was the AL MVP in 1948 and Rizzuto captured the AL MVP in 1950.
Royce Clayton has been a "Giant" on the field and off the field. Off the field, he has established the Royce Clayton Foundation which raises funds for the Sickle Cell Disease Association of America. In the field, he has set numerous club records for fielding, and if it were not for Ozzie Smith and Omar Vizquel, his magic with the glove might have led to more honors. At the plate, he has put up outstanding numbers for the shortstop position. He has been a major league All-Star and helped his teams into the post-season although he never appeared in a World Series. Seventeen years ago, he was a San Jose Giant riding a bus to Salinas, Reno, Visalia, Palm Springs, Riverside, San Bernadino, Modesto and Stockton. Today, he is the only shortstop in major league history to wear the uniforms of ten major league teams. Remarkably, he was the starting shortstop for all ten major league teams! Royce Clayton, major league shortstop, says it all. |
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