Bio

A 10-game winner in 1966, this left-hander helped the Panther baseball team to national prominence, pitching for Chapman from 1965-67. As a sophomore in '66, Clifton won 10 games and helped Chapman to a 38-6 record overall and the No. 1 ranking in the NCAA College Division (there was no national championship tournament for College Division). As a result, he was named to the All-Southern California Athletic Conference (SCAC) team. That summer he became Chapman's first player ever drafted by a Major League club when he was selected in the 41st round by the Minnesota Twins.

Clifton passed on the offer by the Twins and returned to Chapman for his junior year when he won six games and posted a 1.17 ERA while guiding the Panthers to a third-place finish at the West Regionals. He was named to the All-America team in 1967 and drafted once again, this time in the fourth round by the Boston Red Sox. He won 23 games in the minor leagues, reaching as high as Triple-A Louisville in '71.