Son of Roger Clemens drafted by Detroit Tigers
By Cody Rivera
The youngest son of the former Cy Young winner was selected in the third round of the MLB Draft.
Once again, another Clemens is entering Major League Baseball. Kody Clemens, the youngest son of former pitcher Roger Clemens, was selected by the Detroit Tigers in the third round of the 2018 MLB Draft.
Roger is one of the most well-known names in the history of baseball, though not necessarily for good reasons. He spent 24 years in the Majors, and was heavily linked to steroids. He also spent the bulk of his career in the 80s and 90s with the Boston Red Sox. As a Red Sox fan myself, I can personally vouch that Clemens is not an overly popular person in New England.
After being out of shape during his last few years in Boston, then bolting to Toronto without so much as a “thank you” to the Red Sox and their fans, he won two Cy Young awards and two pitching Triple Crowns in two seasons north of the border. Then to make it worse for Boston fans, Clemens joined up with the New York Yankees and tagged along for two World Series titles.
In 2007, Clemens finally retired as one of the most controversial figures in baseball history, but nonetheless a seven-time Cy Young award winner. Now, his son Kody will have a chance to make a name for himself, but rather as a second baseman than a pitcher.
Currently a junior at the University of Texas, Kody is hitting .346 with 21 home runs and 68 RBIs. He was formerly a 35th-round selection by the Houston Astros – one of the teams his father pitched for – out of high school, but opted to go the college route instead. He is the third of Roger’s sons to be drafted, as his older brother Koby was selected by Houston in 2005, and older brother Kacy was selected by Toronto in 2017.
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Kody will definitely have big shoes to fill in the Major Leagues, but hopefully he can do it in a less controversial way than his father.
Also, a somewhat fun, yet interesting, fact: all of Roger’s sons’ names begin with the letter K (Koby, Kory, Kacy, Kody) as a reference to his many strikeouts over the years, so there’s that.