This story was excerpted from Matthew Leach’s Twins Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.
You probably know plenty about Kody Clemens’ father. That would be seven-time Cy Young Award winner Roger Clemens, one of the greatest pitchers in the history of the sport.
You may also know that Kody, one of the newest Twins, is not the only baseball player among his brothers. His older brothers Koby and Kacy both also played professionally, though neither reached the Major Leagues.
What all of that means is that you probably don’t know enough about his mom, Debbie. Kody pointed to mom as the rock in his baseball family, always there from tee-ball to Little League to his days at the University of Texas and now as a big leaguer.
“My mom and my grandma were a huge part of my life,” he said, “raising me when my dad was playing. They’ve always been very supportive. All the way through college, they were trying to go to every baseball game they can. So yeah. I’m very fortunate to have a great mom and a great grandmother to kind of take over there.”
Asked to single out a particular highlight in honor of Mother’s Day, Kody hearkened back to the MLB Draft in 2018. The Longhorns had just won the Austin regional, putting them two wins from the College World Series, when he was selected by the Tigers.
“We got to celebrate,” he said. “That was a special moment.
“We went back and watched it on the computer. It was cool because it was the first pick of day two. Third round, first pick. So it was cool. I knew that I was going to get picked. The Tigers called. So we had time to go back and get the computer set up and get everything. My name was called and it was a super special moment with my mom there. It was awesome.”
Mom was also present for a more recent special moment. Kody homered at Fenway Park, the stadium where his dad began his legendary career, with both of his parents in attendance. It was his first time playing at the venerable old ballpark, and he made the most of it.