Kapler shares ‘exciting' Will Clark story from playing days

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Programming note: The Will Clark jersey retirement ceremony will air live at 4:30 p.m. PT on Saturday on NBC Sports Bay Area and streaming on NBCSportsBayArea.com and in the MyTeams app. First pitch between the Giants and Chicago Cubs is scheduled for 6:05 p.m. PT.

SAN FRANCISCO -- Will Clark's most famous years in baseball came in the late 1980s and early 1990s in San Francisco, but Clark kept making opposing pitchers miserable all the way until 2000, which meant he was in the big leagues at the same time as current Giants manager Gabe Kapler. 

Kapler was in his second full season when Clark was finishing up his final year. They faced off several times when Clark was with the Baltimore Orioles and Kapler was with the Detroit Tigers, but Kapler doesn't remember those games. He does, however, remember the first time he crossed paths with Clark, who now is a special assistant for the Giants and a regular in the clubhouse.  

"My only story with Will, and this is one I personally found exciting and interesting, was when I got traded to Texas from Detroit and I was looking for a house in Texas -- he obviously wasn't in Texas anymore -- but I ended up renting his house in Southlake, Texas," Kapler said, smiling. "It was a very Pleasantville-style suburb of Dallas. So that was kind of cool. I was like, 'Ahh, I'm living in Will Clark's house, look at me.' "

After the 1999 season, Kapler was traded to Texas as part of a nine-player blockbuster that sent two-time American League MVP Juan Gonzalez to the Tigers. He spent three seasons in Texas and he certainly succeeded as a player while living in Clark's house. Kapler hit 14 homers in 2000 and posted a .833 OPS that would end up being the second-highest of his 12-year MLB career.

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Kapler remembers the property as being a standard house for the suburbs without any real signs that it was owned by a famous baseball player. He said he didn't interact with Clark back then because there was an intermediary who rented it out. Asked if he has ever told Clark the story, Kapler laughed. 

"He knows because he rented it to me," he said.

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