Aug 26, 2004 The Housing Parks and Recreation Department in conjunction with the Tourism Department will host the Horace Clarke 15-16 Invitational Tournament at the Paul E. Joseph Stadium, Aug. 27-29. The opening ceremony begins at 2 p.m. on Friday and play continues through Sunday.
Baseball teams from New York, Puerto Rico, St. Croix, St. Thomas and Tortola will compete in the three-day tournament.
The tournament honors Horace Clarke, a St. Croix native son and former New York Yankees switch-hitting second baseman. Clarke was with the Yankees from 1965 to 1974, playing alongside such legends as Mickey Mantle, Whitey Ford, Roger Maris and Thurman Munson. In 1974 he split the season between the Yankees and the National League San Diego Padres before retiring.
In 1975 Clarke worked for the Department of Housing Parks and Recreation as a baseball specialist. He was instrumental in assisting several local payers such as Jerry Brown, Dennis Brow, Steve Walker, Leroy Simmonds, Kenny Jackson, Jeff Clarke, Jason Clarke, Roger Cropper Bruce Dario, Kevin King, Ellerton Maynard and Geranimo Newton making it to the minor and major leagues.
Clarke recently regaled children at a local reading program with his experiences as a professional baseball player. (See "A Day When Baseballs Were Welcome in the Library")
The game lineup is as follows:
Friday, Aug. 27
2 p.m. – Opening Ceremony
3 p.m. – Tortola vs. St. Croix
5 p.m. – New York vs. Puerto Rico
7 p.m. – Tortola vs. St. Thomas
9 p.m. – St. Croix vs. New York
Saturday, Aug. 28
10 a.m. – New York vs. Tortola
Noon – Puerto Rico vs. St. Croix
2 p.m. – New York vs. St. Thomas
4 p.m. – Tortola vs. Puerto Rico
6 p.m. – St. Thomas vs. St. Croix
8-11 p.m. – Xtaushan Band & D.J. Hatma
Sunday, Aug. 29
10 a.m. – St. Thomas vs. Puerto Rico
2 p.m. – Semifinals (3rd place vs. 2nd place)
6 p.m. – Championship game (1st place vs. winner of semi finals)
Sponsors of the tournament include Caledonia Springs, Capital Tee's, Rotary West, Cruzan Rum, Plaza Extra, WTJX/Channel 12, WVWI Radio, Isle 95, Mongoose 104.9, Sunny 99.5, and Central High School Jr. ROTC.
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