San Francisco Giants to retire Will Clark’s No. 22 next year

The San Francisco Giants announced on Sunday that first baseman Will Clark will have his No. 22 retired next season.

During a pregame ceremony honoring the 1989 NL pennant-winning squad, the San Francisco Giants surprised former first baseman Will Clark with the announcement that his No. 22 will be retired next season.

He will join Barry Bonds, who had his number retired last season, as the only players not in the Baseball Hall of Fame to receive that honor.

“The Giants have always had a policy where the numbers that were retired were Hall of Famers,” Clark told reporters. “And then that changed last year when Barry got his number retired. He is not a Hall of Famer, so it opened a door.”

It’s a move that some feel is long overdue, and the roar of the Oracle Park crowd showed how beloved Clark still is in San Francisco:

While some teams set aside certain numbers when they intend to eventually retire them, the Giants have not been shy about handing out the No. 22 jersey since Clark signed with the Texas Rangers following the 1993 season.

Here’s a look at all the players who have worn it since him:

• Rikkert Faneyte (1994)
• Dave McCarty (1995)
• Osvaldo Fernandez (1996-97)
• Damon Minor (2000)
• Eric Davis (2001)
• Manny Aybar (2002)
• Kurt Ainsworth (2002)
• Jose Cruz (2003)
• Dustan Mohr (2004)
• Mike Matheny (2005-06)
• Matt Morris (2006-07)
• Keiichi Yabu (2008)
• Ryan Rohlinger (2008)
• Ivan Ochoa (2008)
• Alex Hinshaw (2008)
• Eli Whiteside (2009-12)
• Cole Gillaspie (2013)
• Dan Uggla (2014)
• Jake Peavy (2014-16)
• Christian Arroyo (2017)
• Andrew McCutchen (2018)

The San Francisco Giants selected Clark with the No. 2 overall pick in the 1985 draft out of Mississippi State University where he was college teammates with Rafael Palmeiro.

Clark reached the majors the following year, hitting .287/.343/.44 with 27 doubles and 11 home runs to finish fifth in NL Rookie of the Year voting.

He followed that up with a career-high 35 home runs in 1987 and then led the NL in RBI (109) and walks (100) in 1988, finishing fifth in NL MVP voting both years.

The best season of his career coincided with the team’s trip to the World Series in 1989. He hit .333/.407/.546 with 38 doubles, 23 home runs, 111 RBI and an NL-leading 104 runs scored to finish runner-up to teammate Kevin Mitchell in MVP balloting. He was worth 8.6 WAR that season and won the Silver Slugger.

All told, he spent eight seasons with the San Francisco Giants, racking up 1,278 hits, 176 home runs and 709 RBI while batting .299/.373/.499 and posting 35.8 WAR.

He went on to play seven more seasons with the Texas Rangers, Baltimore Orioles and St. Louis Cardinals before retiring following the 2000 season.

Congratulations to Will Clark, who has earned his place among the legendary players in San Francisco Giants history.