• Card series: Beginnings: 1880's
• City: Philadelphia
• Team: Quakers
• League: National League

Clarence Algernon Childs (1867-1912) was not only a fine second-baseman, he was an excellent batsman with a knack for getting on base. He played 13 seasons in the majors for five clubs. His best years were the eight he spent with the Cleveland Spiders where he played alongside Cy Young, Jesse Burkett, Bobby Wallace, Buck Ewing, George Davis and John Clarkson. Never elected to the Hall of Fame, Cupid’s on-base percentage exceeds that of every second-baseman in Cooperstown but Rogers Hornsby and Eddie Collins and his lifetime .306 average is better than a dozen who made it in. The stocky Childs was dubbed “the dumpling” by a Grand Rapids reporter describing his tryout with Kalamazoo in 1888. Yet, the article said Cupid could cover more ground than most. His arrival in Cleveland resulted from a favorable ruling in a nationally publicized case when the Orioles tried to hold him to a contract ruled null. Childs fit in well with Patsy Tebeau’s “hooligans” through the 1890s.

• Ranks 24th all-time in OBP (.416), just behind Stan Musial
• Had a great eye at the plate, striking out only once every 26 at bats