HOF Inductee Luciean L. Clinton – Class of 1955
The Po-Hi Hall of Fame banquet will be held Thursday, Sept. 28 in Po-Hi Commons. The event will begin at 7 p.m. The induction ceremony will follow in the Ponca City Schools Concert Hall.
Tickets are $50 per person or $500 for a table of eight. Tickets are now available and can be purchased at the Administration Building, 613 East Grand Avenue.
2023 Ponca City High School Hall of Fame inductees include Luciean Clinton, Mary Young Frates, Chris Littlecook, Mike McGraw and Carol Stauffer.
Luciean L. "Lou" Clinton was born in Ponca City, Oklahoma on October 13, 1937, son of Earl and Lucy (Marlette) Clinton. His family lived in Longwood, a township adjacent to Ponca City in north central Oklahoma. Lou had four sisters - Earlene, Luciena, Lorene and Josephine - and three brothers - Earl, Loren and James. He attended Washington Grade School, East Jr High School and Ponca City High School, graduating in the class of 1955.
Lou was signed by the Red Sox as an amateur free agent before the 1955 season. Clinton was a Major League Baseball outfielder who batted and threw right-handed. His major league career spanned eight seasons (1960-1967), during which he played for five American League teams; the Boston Red Sox, Los Angels/California Angels, Kansas City Athletics, Cleveland Indians and New York Yankees.
Clinton made his major league debut in 1960, and spent five seasons with the Red Sox, batting .252 with 49 home runs and 198 RBIs. Lou was involved in an odd play on August 9, 1960. In the bottom of the fifth inning with a Cleveland runner on base, Vic Power of the Indians hit a line drive that bounced off the right field fence in Cleveland; the ball hit Clinton's foot and flew over the fence. Umpire Al Smith ruled that the ball never touched the ground and was a home run. The odd play was also scored as a home run with no error being assigned to Clinton. Clinton was playing right field for Boston on the final day of the 1961 season, when Roger Maris hit his 61 st home run; Clinton ran back to the right field wall, but the ball went over him into the stands at Yankee Stadium. In his eight major league seasons, he batted .247 in 691 games played, with 65 home runs and 269 RBIs.
On May 11, 1967, Clinton's contract was purchased by the Philadelphia Phillies and he was assigned to their Triple-A Pacific Coast League team, the San Diego Padres. He played 110 games for the Padres through the remainder of the season, battling .250. The San Diego Padres announced Clinton's retirement from baseball on January 29, 1968.
Clinton elected to devote full time to his profitable oil interests in Oklahoma. He had gone into the oil business in 1964 with his uncle during the off-season. After working with his uncle for a few years, Lou branched out on his own, establishing himself as owner and operator of Clinton Production Inc. in Wichita, Kansas. The company today works with oil well machinery, equipment and supplies. After Clinton's passing in 1997, his son, Chris Clinton, took over the company. Lou and his wife, Eleanor, had two sons, Chris and Kevin. Clinton died of Creutzfeldt Jakob disease at age 60 in Wichita, Kansas and is buried in Lakeview Cemetery.