Clark Set to Play for SDSU

Tony Clark, a man being tugged in two directions but refusing to be pushed in either, has enrolled at San Diego State for the fall semester and will play basketball for the Aztecs this winter, according to Coach Tony Fuller.

Clark spent the summer playing minor league baseball in the Detroit Tigers’ organization, and the Tigers wanted him to drop basketball completely.

“I’m just glad to have him back,” Fuller said.

Clark, who averaged 12 points and four rebounds per game for SDSU last winter, batted .306 with five home runs and 17 RBIs in 27 games for single-A Niagara Falls in 1992.

He injured his right wrist, though, and did not play after July 8. A magnetic resonance imaging test was negative.

A Niagara Falls spokesperson said Clark left the team two days early without telling Manager Larry Parrish.

“Naturally, we’d like him to play baseball,” said Dave Miller, the Tigers’ director of minor league administration. “We’d like him to play in the Instructional League (this fall) and then come to spring training and give baseball a full effort. That would be one way he could advance.”

In three seasons, Clark has only 158 at-bats. He missed last season with a back injury. This summer, he struck out 34 times in 85 at-bats.

Asked if he thinks Clark has lived up to his end of the contract, Miller replied: “I’d rather not comment on that.”

Clark could not be reached for comment.