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Clarke, Raymond (Jackie) (1989)

Writer: Maine Baseball HOF
Maine Baseball HOF
Aug 12, 2019
2 min read

Clarke, Raymond (Jackie) (89)

Raymond “Jackie” Clarke When Jack Clarke began his baseball career in the mid 1930's, he played with Harry Angelides and Bill Silsby. At Ellsworth High School, Clarke’s coach was Del Luce. Angelides and Silsby are in the Maine Baseball Hall of Fame. So are Charles Jude and Colby Wood who also played for Luce. It is entirely appropriate that Clarke's name be added to the list of Down East elite who have earned induction. during World War Il service with the United States Navy, Clarke was on a starting 9 team with five Double - A and Triple-A players managed by Bill Brandt, a pitcher with the Pittsburg Pirates.

After the war, Clarke played two summers for the the Ellsworth Redskins. Wood was the player-manager. In 1946 Clarke tried out with the Brooklyn Dodgers and was offered a contract by Clyde Sukeforth, but he elected to attend Bowdoin College. Clarke played with the Polar Bears 1947 - 48 - 49 -50. In 1947 his .375 average led the club in hitting. He was selected as the second team All-State centerfielder.

In the summer of 1948, Clarke played for Blue Hill in the Eastern Maine League. He batted .355 and was a Southern Division All-Star.

The following year he hit .348 and again was named an all-star. The following year saw the beginning of the end. Clarke's playing time was limited because of a knee injury which subsequently ended his playing career.

But it didn’t end Clarke’s association with baseball. From 1954-61 he coached in the South Portland Schools and Little League. His teams won six league championships and two Greater Portland titles. In 1961, Clarke was the recipient of the Kenneth C.M. Sills Award as Little League Manager of the Year.

From 1962-67 in the South Portland National League, his team was league champion three times. In American Legion, 1973-75, Clarke coached Stewart Morrill Post #35 to a 70-23 record. Clarke was most recently associated with Yarmouth Junior High School and Yarmouth Senior League. He was a member of the Board of Umpires, 1954-60.


 
 
 

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Meet the 2026 Maine Baseball Hall of Fame inductees
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Portland Press Herald 4/10/2026
https://www.pressherald.com/2026/04/10/meet-the-2026-maine-baseball-hall-of-fame-inductees/?copylink=true

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Former St. Dominic and current Gray-New Gloucester coach Bob Blackman and Cony coach Don Plourde are among the 11 members of the newest class. Four coaches currently preparing for the upcoming high school baseball season are among the 11 inductees in the 2026 Maine Baseball Hall of Fame class.

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Gray-New Gloucester’s Bob Blackman, Brewer’s Dana Corey, Hampden Academy’s Jon Perry and Cony’s Don Plourde are all part of the class that will be inducted on Oct. 4 at the Holiday Inn by the Bay in Portland. Blackman coached St. Dominic High School to nine state championships in 22 seasons before the school closed at the end of the last school year. He was named the coach at Gray-New Gloucester in September. Corey hit .359 at the University of Maine in 1971. He played two seasons in the Chicago Cubs system and has been the head coach at Brewer for 18 seasons.

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Perry hit .381 at the University of Maine in 1981 and helped the Black Bears reach the College World Series. He has coached for the past 45 seasons at the high school, American Legion and collegiate levels. 

Plourde is in his 17th season as the coach at Cony High School and has been named the KVAC Coach of the Year five times. He has been coaching at various levels for more than 30 years. 

Others earning induction are: 

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• Al Cloutier, who has been involved in baseball in Augusta as a player, Cony High and American Legion coach, Babe Ruth League director and volunteer. 

• John Kolasinski, who was a college coach at for 37 years, first at Husson and later at Siena Heights University in Michigan. He is a five-time New England Coach of the Year winner.

• Mark Littlefield, a Portland High graduate, who is now in his 36th season working on the medical staff of the New York Yankees organization. 

• Scott Littlefield, a Portland High graduate, who will be inducted posthumously. Littlefield coached at Florida State University and the University of Southern Maine before working for 34 years as a Major League Baseball scout, including 16 as a player personnel special assistant for the Texas Rangers.

• J. Ronald Livington, who will be inducted posthumously. Livingston was an All-Star infielder for the semi-pro Presque Isle Indians in the Northern Aroostook League in the 1930 and 1940s. He also coached and was a director in the South Portland National Little League.

• Mike McCullum, of Portland, who hit .338 at the University of Southern Maine and earned ABCA Division III All-American honors in 1999. 

• Jim Taylor of Lewiston, who was a founding member of the Central Maine Board of Approved Baseball Umpires and was instrumental in starting the Maine chapter of the Collegiate Baseball Umpires Association.

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Maine Baseball Hall of Fame day  Delta Dental Park aka Hadlock Field 7/19/2026
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