Jack Clark Swings Himself Out of Slump : Padre Drives In 17 Runs in 8 Days, Hits 8 Homers Since Aug. 11

Jack Clark is finding his way out of a four-month slump with a September surge.

Clark, who will be 34 next month, was one of the most feared hitters in baseball from 1985 to 1987 with the St. Louis Cardinals.

He signed as a free agent with the New York Yankees in 1988 and never quite got used to American League pitching.

Clark asked George Steinbrenner for a trade to a West Coast team, and he got his wish when the Yankees sent him to San Diego. But for most of this season, he did not perform much better against National League pitching.

Not Enough Home Runs

There were just too many runners left on base, too many strikeouts and not enough home runs.

As a result, the Padres fell out of the NL West race for most of the season before making a mild run at the San Francisco Giants.

But all of a sudden, Clark is the hitter San Diego Manager Jack McKeon wanted all season.

“I’ve changed my approach a little bit, just something that you keep learning and building on,” Clark said.

Clark drove in a career-high seven runs with a grand slam in the seventh inning and a three-run homer in the eighth as the Padres beat Atlanta 10-9 Monday night.

He has driven in 17 runs in the last eight days and has hit eight home runs since Aug. 11. He does not, however, attach much importance to it.

“I don’t know about that,” Clark said when asked if he had discovered his groove. “I have been seeing the ball as good as I have in a few years.”

Carried 454 Feet

The grand slam off Mike Eichhorn carried 454 feet off the club-level facade in left.

“I thought the first one was going out of Fulton County, not the stadium, the county,” Atlanta Manager Russ Nixon said.

It was the 17th two-homer game of Clark’s career, with No. 16 coming Aug. 28 against Montreal when he drove in six runs for the third time in his career.

“I was basically in a slump for four months,” Clark said. “I couldn’t find my niche. I’m just trying to regroup a little bit.”

22 Homers, 84 RBIs

Clark is up to 22 homers and 84 RBIs.

“We get him locked in here in this September drive, things are going to get mighty interesting,” Padres outfielder Chris James said.

“Our job is to go up there and take three hard swings to try to help our team get runs, whether we strike out or not,” Clark said of the role he and James share.