Clemens name still carries magic
Pitching great’s youngest son steps in at first base as freshman for Horns.
The name Clemens carries a lot of weight around Texas baseball and looms over the diamond at Disch-Falk Field, in the direct sightline of a first baseman who’s looking toward home plate.
Perhaps it’s appropriate that Kacy Clemens, a Longhorns freshman and the youngest son of former Texas and major league pitching great Roger Clemens, has do- ne his best work of his first season while seeing his father’s name and retired jersey number on every play when he’s in the field.
Clemens has been much more impressive with the glove than he has been at the plate so far. He has started every game for the 10-3 team, hitting .239 with one extra-base hit and two RBIs. But he’ll likely be back in the cleanup spot for Texas’ fourgame home weekend series against Hawaii (6-6), which begins Friday.
Recruited as an all-around player and pitcher after he went 8-0 with an 0.27 ERA and hit .354 with 26 RBIs his senior season at Houston Memorial, Clemens has fit right
in at first base despite not playing the position since he was a high school sophomore.
“I’m just trying to do what I can day to day to help this team,” Clemens said. “Most of the freshmen on this team are having a difficult time in the early part of the season, but we are having so much fun playing baseball at Texas and because we are winning. There’s a great family atmosphere here in our clubhouse.”
It was hard to determine how much Clemens could contribute this season; he missed most of Texas’ fall drills while rehabbing a shoulder injury. But with the change in the calendar to the new year, Clemens forced his way into the lineup with his steady play.
Clemens recorded his first RBI on March 2 when he drove home the tying run in the seventh in a contest Texas eventually won against Sam Houston State. The RBI was even more special because it came at the Houston College Classic at Minute Maid Park, a stadium in which his dad helped pitch the Houston Astros into the 2005 World Series.
He ended up going 4-for-11 in the three-game Houston College Classic, with two walks.
“It was a thrill to be able to come up with the big hit in a spot like that in the stadium I always dreamed of playing in,” Clemens said.
It would be easy for him to have a sense of entitlement because of his father’s legacy. But coach Augie Garrido said Clemens has been one of the team’s hardest workers.
“Kacy is very mature for his age and in his understanding of the game, and what it takes to be at his best,” Garrido said. “He takes nothing for granted and is one of the most popular guys on the team. His work ethic is second to none.”
Clemens said he is more focused on being his best every day than in competing with his father’s feats.
“I don’t feel much pressure. I grew up with all that comes with be- ing Roger Clemens’ son, and I’m used to it,” Clemens said. “What he did here was impressive, and I have some huge shoes to fill, but I’m Kacy and I’m trying to make my own name and help this team. That’s what I want my legacy to be.”