Thunder and Lightning
- Towns King
- Apr 11, 2019
- 4 min read
Updated: Apr 16, 2019
Will Clark and Rafael Palmeiro were two of the greatest college baseball players of all time. Clark was known for hitting home runs left and right and Palmeiro, for having a knack for getting on base. These two played for Mississippi State University during the legendary 1985 season for the Bulldogs. The team went 50-15 winning the regular season title, the SEC tournament title and finished third at the NCAA College World Series. Palmeiro and Clark had two very different personalities, but they had one thing in common, the desire to win.
Rafael Palmeiro grew up quite differently than most of the kids on the ’85 team. Palmeiro’s father fled from the reign of Fidel Castro and began his new life in Miami, Florida. Palmeiro grew up in a Spanish community, where his father worked as a construction worker. After he would finish work, Rafael and his dad would go straight to the ballpark where he learned work ethic and what hard work looks like.
Will Clark grew up in New Orleans East, where he grew up hunting and fishing. These things helped him grow in his relationship with his father, where his father taught him determination and hard work. He always loved baseball, but his father is the person who really made him the player he was. Clark was drafted by the Royals out of High School but decided he wanted to go play in college.
In 1983, Will and Rafael stepped foot on to the campus of Mississippi and State and immediately had a reputation for being outstanding ball players. Rafael started his first year and had an unbelievable year with career numbers. Clark, on the other hand, did not start at first, but about halfway through the year, was given his opportunity and he made the most of it. Having both of these guys in the lineup gave opposing pitchers nightmares as both of them would tear covers off baseballs. Each of them with different approaches and very different swings. Palmeiro had a swing that kept his momentum going towards the baseball while keeping his hands back and then whip them through the zone. Clark, would keep his weight more on his backside and drive his back hip through the zone where his hands would follow. This duo would prove to be one of the most dynamic 1,2 punches in college baseball. They were such opposites but complimented each other so well, they became known as “Thunder and Lightning”.
In some cases, a sophomore slump may be in question. Not for Thunder and Lightning in 1984. Palmeiro hit in the three hole for the Bulldogs and Clark hit right behind him in the clean-up spot in the lineup which caused major issues for opposing teams. The two combined for 57 home runs, and 187 RBIs. Clark was known as the thunder because of his ability to hit balls 400+ feet, and Palmeiro was the lightning because of his quick hands and his skill set to hit hard line drives.
During this time, ESPN was only a few years old and didn’t have a whole lot to broadcast, so they turned to college baseball. Mississippi State baseball was considered to be one of the most winningest teams at the time, not only in the Southeast Conference but in the nation. Because of this, ESPN became a big part of Mississippi State baseball. This created a ton of exposure for the sport, but also for the two outstanding young men that played. 1984 was also the year of the Summer Olympics and was the first-year baseball was going to be a part of it. Both Palmeiro and Clark were asked to be on the USA team, but because of citizenship issues, Palmeiro was not allowed to participate. Clark went on to have a spectacular Olympics. Clark was able to play in the Championship game with Team USA but came up short to South Korea.
In 1985, the College World Series consisted of some of the best teams in college baseball history including Oklahoma St. with a record of 58-16-1. Mississippi State and Oklahoma State matched up in the first game of the World Series where the Bulldogs won 12-3. According to The Baseball Cube, Will Clark went 3-4 in that game with a home run and two singles. The next day was the MLB First-Year Player Draft it was also the day where Thunder and Lightning took on a top-ranked Arkansas team. Before the game, Will Clark was selected 2nd overall by the San Francisco Giants and Rafael was taken 23rd overall by the Chicago Cubs. They then went on to beat Arkansas 5-4. In the next game, Mississippi State lost to Texas 12-7. In the Bulldog’s final game to try to advance to the Championship, Miami hit a walk-off two-run home run. Miami then went on to win the 1985 College World Series.
The unforgettable collegiate career Rafael Palmeiro and Will Clark had created a platform for college baseball. In an article posted by the Clarion Ledger,” Thunder and Lightning looks at the MSU’s 1985 baseball team” Michael Bonner wrote that the pair are the only two bulldogs in school history to hit 60 career homeruns. This proves that Rafael and Will were very talented ball players. The HailStateBeat, the Official blog of Mississippi State Athletics, was able to talk to John Cohen who was the head coach at MSU from 2009-2016. Cohen said, “It was wonderful to have Coach Polk and the whole ’85 team come back. Really a team that, in my opinion, just changed the whole ballgame in terms of college baseball and the attention it’s gotten.” The impact that Thunder and Lightning were able to make on college baseball will never be forgotten.
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