Jeff Clement
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Jeff Clement | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Clement with the Seattle Mariners | |
| Catcher / First basemen | |
| Born: August 21, 1983 Marshalltown, Iowa, U.S. | |
Batted: Left Threw: Right | |
| MLB debut | |
| September 4, 2007, for the Seattle Mariners | |
| Last MLB appearance | |
| September 28, 2012, for the Pittsburgh Pirates | |
| MLB statistics | |
| Batting average | .218 |
| Home runs | 14 |
| Runs batted in | 39 |
| Stats at Baseball Reference | |
| Teams | |
Jeffrey Burton Clement (born August 21, 1983) is an American former professional baseball player. Clement was a catcher and first baseman. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Seattle Mariners and Pittsburgh Pirates.
Clement attended the University of Southern California (USC), where he played college baseball for the USC Trojans and won the Johnny Bench Award as the nation's top collegiate catcher. The Mariners selected Clement in the first round (third overall) in the 2005 MLB draft. He struggled with injuries, which have limited his playing career.
Clement was born and raised in Marshalltown, Iowa. As a twelve-year-old, Clement led the 1996 Marshalltown team to the Little League World Series.
At Marshalltown High School, he broke the national high school home run record, formerly held by Drew Henson. He finished his high school career with 75 home runs. Clement led his high school team as a catcher/pitcher to the Iowa 4-A State Championship game in his senior year (2002). Clement was featured in the September 16, 2002, issue of Sports Illustrated as part of the "For the Love of the Game" article. Out of high school, Clement was drafted in the 12th round by the Minnesota Twins (362nd overall)[1] due to a poor performance at a pre-draft showcase, but did not sign.[citation needed]
Clement then went to University of Southern California and also played on the U.S. National Team. In his freshman year, he was named Collegiate Baseball Freshman National Co-Player of the Year, Pac-10 Conference Freshman of the Year, earned Baseball America Freshman All-America first team, and Collegiate Baseball Freshman All-American first team honors.
As a sophomore, Clement earned 2004 Baseball America Preseason All-America first team and NCBWA Preseason All-America first team honors, as well as Collegiate Baseball Preseason All-America second team honors. He was also named as a semifinalist for the Johnny Bench Award.
In 2005, he won the Johnny Bench Award as the nation's top collegiate catcher, earned 2005 Baseball America All-America First Team, USA Today Sports Weekly All-America first team and Collegiate Baseball All-America first team honors, as well as 2005 National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association All-America third team honors and was a Finalist for the 2005 Golden Spikes Award and named All-Pac-10 for the third straight year.
