Fielder's Choice

HENNIKER HISTORY

The Villager

July 7, 2007

TOM WATMAN’S

CLASSIC COLUMNS 

FIELDER’S CHOICE

Few athletes climb from the cold hills of New Hampshire and its short high school baseball seasons into the rarefied air of professional baseball.  Those that do make it know that they have accomplished a great deal.

Even at age sixty-seven, the tall, lanky man working behind the counter still maintains the poise and posture of a winning athlete. It’s been over forty years since he voluntarily made a decision to leave professional baseball. He left as a winner.  Since then, most area residents know him best as a well respected businessman, college trustee and distinguished pharmacist.   However, there’s much more to the story.

While a student at Cogswell Memorial High School, Joe Clement was part of a class that numbered around twenty students.  He was class and student council president in his senior year but the community knew him best as a star athlete for the Henniker High School baseball and basketball teams.

On the basketball floor his team won state Class C championships in his junior and senior years. Clement made the All-Tournament team in both seasons. Yet, baseball was, and continues to be, his first love.

Clement played six years on the varsity baseball team. He was the team’s number one pitcher and once hurled two no-hitters in a single week. In his senior year his team was the first Henniker High School squad to make the Class S tournament.

However, Clement credits local Dick “Arab” Labnon, a former professional player and his Little League, Babe Ruth and American Legion coach, for teaching him the important fundaments that helped him go further in the sport.

Clement moved on to the University of Connecticut where he earned a degree in pharmacy.  It was here that his baseball career took flight.

The 1959 squad ran off a 20-3 record. This earned them an invitation to the College Baseball World Series, in Omaha, Nebraska. Clement, a sophomore at the time compiled a 5-1 record with an outstanding earned run average of O.75.  He earned the first of his three varsity letters that season. The NCAA did not permit freshmen to play varsity sports at the time.

Clement compiled a notable 16-4 career won-lost record as a right-handed pitcher for the diamond “Huskies”. Current Associate Director of Athletics, Tim Tolokan reports that Clement’s ran off sixteen victories in a row. “His career 1.06 Earned Run Average (ERA) still ranks second all-time for University of Connecticut pitchers even forty-five years after his collegiate career ended,” said Tolokan.

Clement’s 178.2 career innings pitched also ranks among the top twenty in UConn baseball history. The six-footer once hurled seven innings of scoreless relief in a fifteen inning victory over the University of Maine.

In college, Clement struck out three batters for every one he walked and also managed to hit a solid .300 as a senior. At the time, he relied primarily on his fast ball. The “Huskies” won the Yankee Conference Championship and appeared in the NCAA Tournament in each of his three years as a varsity player.

His accomplishments did not go unnoticed. Clement earned a place on the 2^nd team All-American baseball squad. He was the only New Englander to make any of the three squads. Many major league teams competed to sign Clement for their organizations. 

In 1961, Grady Hatton signed Clement to a contract with the Houston Colt 45’s (Now the Houston Astros). This team became a part of the National League a year later. It is noteworthy that Clement turned down a larger financial offer from the Braves because he had given his word to the Houston ball club earlier.

The Colts assigned him to their Class A minor league team in Jacksonville, of the SALLY League. While his won-lost record was only 3-5, he had a solid 2.14 ERA as a starting pitcher. He also set a league record by tossing two shutouts in a row.

That year Clement enlisted in the service where he pitched on base teams and unfortunately developed a sore arm that brought him discomfort periodically there after. In response to that injury he developed a highly effective sinker and focused on control rather than speed. 

His military service was sandwiched in between two stints in the prestigious major league Fall Instructional League. This league focused on developing highly regarded prospects for the major leagues.

On his return to civilian life, Houston assigned Clement for the short period of time left in the season to Modesto, in the California League. He had a 3-1 won-lost record and an ERA of 3.55. This was the first year that Houston was part of the major leagues. Clement’s progress earned him a spot on the team’s roster.

Clement spent the next two years with the Durham Bulls, of Carolina League.  Over that time he played in 86 games. In his role as a relief pitcher he won 14 and lost 14 under manager Billy Goodman.

In 1965, He followed Goodman to Cocoa Beach, of the Florida State League, where he won 12 and suffered only 4 defeats. He was the team’s closer and also served as the pitching coach. His record earned him a slot on the league All-Star team.

According to Patric Doyle, of Old Time Data, Joe Clement’s overall minor league record as a pitcher was very creditable. He won games 32 compared to 24 losses and had a very competitive ERA of 3.30.  Clement pitched 425 innings over his 164 game career.

In 1965, Clement had a once in a lifetime opportunity. The late Norm Parmenter was about to retire and offered to sell him the “Henniker Pharmacy.”  By then Clement was married and had a family.

He faced an uncertain future that periodic arm troubles brought to a baseball pitcher or the chance to establish himself professionally in his own home town. Both options presented attractive opportunities. Clement acknowledges that the decision was difficult to make. It was a tough call, with no replay opportunities.

Now you know the rest of the story.

THE END