Clark Gives a Little Back to Alma Mater

Mississippi State alumnus Will Clark, pro baseball’s biggest-bucks player, is going from fence-buster to fence-builder on the university’s campus in Starkville.

Clark’s $20,000 gift to the university, announced as part of his new four-year, $15 million contract this week with the San Francisco Giants, will be used to replace an outfield fence he pounded at Dudy Noble Field as an all-American first baseman.

It’ll be a fence, not a wall, thus preventing some Bulldog fans from howling. “We’ll probably call it the ‘Will Clark Fence,”’ State baseball coach Ron Polk said Tuesday.

The Bulldogs could have erected a wall and called it something catchy like “Will’s Wall.” But a wall would have blocked the view of hundreds of fans who prefer to watch games in party-style from beyond outfield fences rather than sit in the grandstand.

“We don’t want anything that will disrupt the view of the crowds in the outfield,” Polk said.

Polk said the current fence is dangerous for outfielders because it has no protective railing at the top. He also said a more firm foundation for the fence and warning track is needed. The fence will be erected this summer, Polk said.

Neither the donation, nor Clark’s new contract that calls for the first $4 million annual salary in baseball history, came as a surprise to Polk, who coached him from 1983-1985.

“We talked about this (gift) previously,” Polk said.

Clark, 25, the Most Valuable Player of the National League playoffs, batted .333 in 1989 with 23 home runs, 111 RBI, 104 runs scored and 196 hits.

At Mississippi State, he was a two-time all-America and won the Golden Spikes Award in 1985, symbolic of the best college player in the nation. He turned pro after his junior year.

“He’s been back a couple of times to visit our players, and he’s already made significant contributions in other ways,” Polk said. “When we were building our stadium, he spoke to various alumni meetings.”

Polk said he’s happy for Clark.

“Those packages surprise us all,” Polk said. “After looking at all the other salaries lately, I thought if anybody was going to make that kind of money, Will certainly should.

“I knew Will’s would be a fantastic amount. I just didn’t know whether he’d top everybody else.”