John Clarkson was one of the first truly great pitchers in baseball history. While it's hard to argue against his 1889 Pitching Triple Crown season as being his best (49 wins, 284 Ks, 2.73 ERA), his 1885 season for the Chicago White Stockings may come close to topping it. That year, Clarkson won 53 games, going the distance in 68 of his 70 starts. He threw 10 shutouts, and struck out 308 batters in 623 innings. All of those numbers led the league, and none of them are typos. He had a 1.85 ERA, finishing third in the league behind Hall of Famers Tim Keefe (1.58) and Mickey Welch (1.66). Clarkson went on to have a Hall of Fame career, himself, finishing with 328 wins in 12 seasons.

Clarkson has seven different poses in the N172 set. This issue features the pitcher as a member of the Chicago White Stockings, at the end of his throwing motion, with his right arm extended forward and his left hand on his thigh. 

Centering is very strong, with just a slight bit of diamond cutting leaving the top left border fractions of an inch thicker than the top right border. The back exhibits some light staining and may show signs of previously being in a photo album or scrapbook, which affects the grade, but not the front of the card's eye appeal. The image is crisp and clear, just a little bit light. Regardless, the image quality, as opposed to the technical grade, is what is important with N172 cards, and this is certainly above average.