St. Claire owns a pedigree
Saints outfielder’s dad, grandfather, uncle all played professional ball
“He’s already a center fielder that can walk right in and play in the major leagues,” says coach and dad of Siena outfielder Evan St. Claire.
Siena outfielder Evan St. Claire is too young to remember when his father and uncle played in the Montreal Expos’ organization in the 1980s, or obviously when his grandfather caught in the big leagues in the 1950s.
However, there’s a four-legged reminder of his family’s considerable baseball heritage whenever St. Claire takes the field for the Glens Falls Independents of the Independent Collegiate Baseball League.
St. Claire owns a 4-year-old Golden Retriever named Expo, a tribute to the National League franchise that relocated to Washington, D.C. in 2005.
“My mom named him,” St. Claire explained. “He was a present. Actually, after games, he’s been running out there (on East Field). My mom brings him to every home game.”
St. Claire is just a young pup in baseball terms, still navigating the considerable jump from the Class D program at Whitehall to Division I college competition. He batted .153 as a freshman and .059 during a sophomore year shortened by COVID-19. He’s entering his junior year with the Saints.
“That was tough, especially going into the fall and seeing (pitching) mid-85 to 90 (miles per hour) consistently,” he said. “In Class D, you’ve got 75. So it was a big jump.”
But St. Claire made good use of his summer season, which concluded with a doubleheader on Monday. He was named an ICBL
Performer of the Week on Sunday after batting 6-for-19 with a double, four RBIS and two stolen bases last week.
Glens Falls head coach Steve St. Claire, who is Evan’s father, said he sees progress.
“He’s starting to have more focus at the plate and starting to stay on the ball better,” he said. “A long way to go, but he has a high ceiling.”
His father said it’s just a matter of Evan’s offense catching up with his defense.
“He’s already a center fielder that can walk right in and play in the major leagues,” Steve St. Claire said. “I really believe that. He goes and gets all the balls, takes all the right angles But you’ve got to have two parts.”
Evan St. Claire, who also pitches, can look to his own family for motivation.
Steve St. Claire was a 16thround draft pick of the Expos out of Whitehall in 1984, an outfielder and pitcher who played five years in the minor leagues and was a roommate of future Hall of Famer Larry Walker.
Randy, Evan’s uncle, pitched nine seasons in the majors, the first five with the Expos. He pitched for the Atlanta Braves in the 1991 World Series against the Minnesota Twins before becoming a major league pitching coach.
Their father, Ebba, who is Evan’s grandfather, was a bigleague catcher for the Boston and Milwaukee Braves and New
York Giants from 1951 to 1954. Ebba St. Claire died in 1982 at 61 years old.
Evan St. Claire recalled getting front-row seats at Fenway Park, Yankee Stadium or Shea Stadium when he was a young child and Randy visited as the pitching coach of the Nationals and Marlins.
Steve coached him throughout his youth and stressed the importance of mental toughness when things aren’t going well.
“That’s kind of what my life is, baseball, and I enjoy it and I work at it,” Evan St. Claire said. “That’s what I wanted to do. You always worked hard, hitting every single day that we could. So it’s good to be playing.”
He’s a big Red Sox fan who swings left-handed, just like his favorite player, David Ortiz.
“Just working on my swing,” St. Claire said. “That’s the big thing, is getting at-bats and staying ready for next spring for school ball.”
He heads back to Siena on Aug. 23, the day before classes begin.
“I’m looking forward to hitting better than what I have the past two years,” St.claire said.