Emotional Will Clark has No. 22 retired by SF Giants: ‘This is my Hall of Fame’

Will Clark seemingly always saved his best for when the lights were brightest. On Saturday at Oracle Park, a fitting 22 years since he hung ’em up and nearly three decades since his last game in orange and black, an emotional Clark was, once again, ready for the moment.

Fifty minutes into a pregame ceremony Saturday, the southern kid turned Bay Area icon punctuated his speech by punching the air with his left fist and declaring, “I am Will ‘The Thrill’ Clark. I am a part of San Francisco. And I am forever a Giant.”

Moments earlier, a black cloth draped over his number in left field dropped to reveal Clark’s No. 22 hanging between Monte Irvin’s No. 20 and Willie Mays’ No. 24, making his the 13th number retired by the franchise — more than any club but the Yankees — and a long time coming.

Clark, who became the face of a generation of Giants baseball in the late ’80s, said he had written the speech within a day or two after receiving the news that his number would one day go up in the rafters (or, more accurately, hanging from the third terrace in left-field foul territory). But he was forced to wait once the ceremony, originally scheduled for 2020, was delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic.

“I had two years to practice it,” Clark laughed afterward, adding his most emotional moment came while addressing Mike Krukow, his former teammate and the current Giants broadcaster, whom he called his “best friend and mentor.”