FATHERHOOD SOFTENS BASEBALL'S 'SHERRIF'.

Byline: Jim Reeves Fort Worth Star-Telegram

Will Clark started crying in the fourth inning the other day at Charlotte County Stadium.

The high-pitched, easily recognizable voice could be heard throughout the ballpark. As the bawling continued, fans fidgeted in their seats, unsure of what to do. A few glanced toward Clark's mother, then looked back at the field.

She solved the problem by popping a bottle into his mouth.

Will Clark III - "Trey" to his proud mom and pop - sighed and settled greedily into his liquid lunch.

On the field, Dad pounded a fist into his mitt and scowled, as only William Nuschler Clark Jr. can scowl. For the Rangers first baseman, it's baseball in the afternoon, fatherhood at night.

Not surprisingly, he's loving both.

"Will is so amazed at the little changes that he sees in Trey every day," wife Lisa said as she sat in the stands with her 3-month-old son. "They have their own little language. Will props him up on the couch and the two of them make sounds at each other. I don't know what they're saying, but they seem to be understanding each other. You can tell that there's already a bond there."

For Clark, first-time fatherhood at 32 has been an eye-opening and heart-filling experience. He finds his 14-pound son fascinating and he doesn't mind admitting that it has softened him a little bit. But just "off" the field, mind you. Between the lines, he's still every bit the hardball player.

"He is just so completely helpless," Clark said. "They're completely defenseless right now and you've pretty much got to do everything for them. It makes you feel so protective.

"My hat's off to all the mothers in this world because, my Lord, to see what my wife has gone through taking care of the baby and in the pregnancy itself, it gives you a new appreciation for women."

It wasn't as if Clark had never been around a baby before. He has a brother 12 years his junior, so Clark has changed his share of diapers.

"It surprised me, how well he's adjusted," Lisa said. "I had seen him around other babies and it was kind of like he couldn't relate to them. But with Trey, it's so different.

"Sometimes at night, when I'm trying to get Trey to sleep, I can't let Will hold him because he laughs all the time," Lisa said. "I don't know if it's Will's voice or his face or what, but when Trey sees him, he just starts laughing."

Clark looks forward to sharing the same things he shared with his own father as a child.

"When I was growing up, I played baseball in the summertime, but my main focus was on hunting and fishing with my father," Will said. "Baseball was a lot of fun and still is today. But I enjoyed being with my father, whether it was in the boat or the duck blind or wherever it might be.

"We've got a very close family. I was more family-oriented than star-oriented. I looked up to my mom and dad before I looked up to Mike Schmidt or George Brett or whoever it was. Dad was always fun-loving, jovial. He told a lot of jokes. He and my mom always took time away from their schedule to be with the kids; taking us to games, taking my sister to dance lessons, driving us here and there."

Will, even as a youngster, was developing the personality that would earn him the nickname "Sheriff" in the Rangers clubhouse.

He recalls getting angry in the sixth grade at a classmate who "shot" a needle out of a ballpoint pen and hit a girl in the face after Will had warned him not to do it.

"We got into a couple of fights about that," Clark said. "I beat him up the first time and he still wouldn't go tell the teacher what he'd done, so I beat him up again."

If you were in Will Clark's class, you followed the rules, or you faced the "Sheriff."

"I didn't fight much," Clark said, "but when I did, it was usually prompted by kids around me who didn't care and who didn't take things seriously when they needed to be taken seriously."

Clark takes fatherhood seriously. His life changed Dec. 23 when Trey came into his life.

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At 32, first-time father Will Clark says he's softened a bit - but only off the baseball diamond. Daily News File Photo