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Harlond Benton Clift
St. Louis Browns
Third Base
Born: August 12, 1912, El Reno, OK
Major League Teams: St. Louis Browns 1934-1943; Washington Senators 1943-1945
Died: April 27, 1992, Yakima, WA (79)
One of the earliest power hitting third baseman in baseball, Harlond Clift was a top slugger for the Browns from the mid-1930s to the early 1940s. His best seasons came in 1937 and 1938. He made the A.L. All-Star team in 1937, but didn't get into the game as the Yankees' Red Rolfe (#29) was named the starter at third. Clift hit a career high .306 in 1937 with 29 home runs and 118 RBIs. He matched his 118 RBI mark in 1938 while hitting a career high 34 home runs and batting .290. He led the league in walks with 111 in 1939. He was traded to the Senators on August 18, 1943 with Johnny Niggeling for Ellis Clary, Ox Miller and cash.
Also a fantastic fielder, Clift was tops in the American League in fielding percentage among all third basemen in 1938 and 1940, and he led the league in assists in 1937 and 1940. Over 12 seasons and 1,582 career games, Clift batted .272 with 178 home runs and 829 RBIs. The two teams Clift played for, the Browns and the Senators, eventually moved to different cities with the Browns becoming the Baltimore Orioles in 1954 and the Senators moving to Minnesota in 1961. His SABR biography quotes a heartbroken Clift as saying, "I have no ballclub anymore."
Building the Set
December 16, 2020 from Albion, NY
Within days of officially deciding to collect the Diamond Stars set, I found myself searching for the 1993 extension set consisting of 36 more "what if" cards this time issued by the Chicle Fantasy Company. Individual cards from this set are very prevalent on eBay, but I wanted to buy a complete set to save myself some time and money. Given this is a relatively modern set, I was somewhat surprised at the closing auction prices for previously sold complete sets and I was happy to win my set at a lower price. These cards are gorgeous, and I can tell a lot of hard work and love for the originals went into making this tribute set. What's more, the set's creators were smart enough to start the numbering with card #120, given the 1981 extension set had left off with #120.
As I slowly collect the originals from the 1930s, I'll also highlight each of the cards from these extension sets with their own posts.
Variations Available
1 - 1993 / blue back / 1935 statistics / 1993 copyright
The Card / Browns Team Set
Admittedly, I had never known of Clift prior to studying this card and composing this post. I consider myself a fairly educated baseball fan, but there's still so much I don't know. I'm glad I now know Clift's story. The last line on the back of the card nails Clift's career, and there's no doubt he would be more well known now had he played for one of the Boston, New York, Philadelphia or Chicago teams.
1936 Season
Clift's offensive numbers continued to improve. He played in 152 games for the Browns, batting .302 with 20 home runs and 73 RBIs. He was arguably the MVP of that Browns team, which was managed by Rogers Hornsby (#44) and lost 95 games. Clift led the team in home runs with outfielders Beau Bell and Moose Solters (#85) ahead of him in RBI totals with 123 and 134 respectively. The rest of the Browns' infield was made up of future Hall of Famer Jim Bottomley (#59) at first, Tom Carey at second and Lyn Lary at shortstop.
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Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card: 1936 Exhibits Four-in-One W463-6 #15
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (0): N/A
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 1994 Conlon Collection TSN #1124
Clift's first name is often misspelled "Harland" on his baseball cards.
23 - Clift non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 2/15/21.
Sources:
Previous Card: #121 Moe Berg - Boston Red Sox
Next Card: #123 Joe Cronin - Boston Red Sox
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