"Hit in the clutch" (1927)

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The earliest cite I've found so far is an attributive usage from  1929:

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1929 _Frederick Post_ (Md.) 26 Mar. 3/6 Marty is one of  the best "clutch"
batters in the league. His average is never very high but  he always comes
through with his hits when they are most needed.
[by Dan  Thomas, NEA Service Writer, also published in:
Ironwood Daily Globe (Mich.),  Mar. 29, 1929, p. 18/1]
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...
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29 December 1927, Sporting News, pg. 4, col. 7:
CASEY STENGEL was in a narrative mood at the last meeting of the minors in
Dallas.
(...)
And then Casey rambled on with the info (illegible?--ed.) of another
pinch-swinger. "I knew that I might need some one to hit in the clutch for me,  so I
called this bird off the bench and told him to warm up, as I would probably
want him to hit."