The 100 Greatest Colorado Rockies: 87. Royce Clayton

We continue our look at the top 100 Colorado Rockies of all time in this article. Here, we look at No. 87 on our list, Royce Clayton.

Royce Clayton wasn’t only a standout shortstop in from the Bay Area in real life, he played Miguel Tejada in 2011’s Moneyball. That versatility extended from his 17-year playing career and made him one of the best shortstops in Rockies history. Even if that was just for a season in 2004.

Clayton came to the Rockies late in his career when he was 34. He played in the majority of games that season where he was a standout in what was otherwise a forgettable season. Clayton batted .279 and scored 95 runs proving he could be an effective table setter.

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His glove might have been more valuable with the Rockies as he had one of the highest fielding percentages of his career posting at .986. Clayton brought veteran stability to a team that was three years away from competing in the postseason. He effectively took over for Juan Uribe at short and bridged the gap to Clint Barmes and eventually the team’s greatest shortstop of all-time in Troy Tulowitzki.

Clayton played for 11 teams over his long career with highlights coming in San Francisco and St. Louis. He had his best season with the Cardinals in 1997 when he made it to the All-Star game. The last team Clayton ever played on professionally was the 2007 Boston Red Sox. Although he didn’t play in the series, he did win a ring. The last field he ever walked on was Coors Field when the Red Sox won the World Series in Game 4.

At the end of it all, he had 1,904 hits and 231 stolen bases as a shortstop. Clayton did well after his career outside of baseball and acting. He became an investor in real estate and banking industries. Clayton even was portrayed briefly in The Rookie staring Dennis Quaid by actor Jorge Sanchez. In that film, Clayton was with the Texas Rangers.

Next: Notes on the Hall of Fame and Mark Trumbo

In August of last year, he started giving back to the community where he grew up in the Los Angeles area when he became the head coach at Oaks Christian. Royce Clayton can seemingly do it it all.

Check out the previous story in this list about number 88 John Vander Wal here.