Douglas Cody Clark (born September 14, 1981) is an American professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

catcher Catcher is a position in baseball and softball. When a batter takes their turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the (home) umpire, and receives the ball from the pitcher. In addition to this primary duty, the catc ...

. He played for the

Houston Astros The Houston Astros are an American professional baseball team based in Houston. The Astros compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League West, West Division. They are one of two major leag ...

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

during the 2013 season. He is currently an advanced scout for the

Kansas City Royals The Kansas City Royals are an American professional baseball team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Royals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. The team ...

Playing career

Clark attended Fayetteville High School in

Fayetteville, Arkansas Fayetteville ( ) is the List of cities and towns in Arkansas, second-most populous city in the U.S. state of Arkansas, the county seat of Washington County, Arkansas, Washington County, and the most populous city in Northwest Arkansas. The city ...

. The

Toronto Blue Jays The Toronto Blue Jays are a Canadian professional baseball team based in Toronto. The Blue Jays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East Division. Since 1989, the team has p ...

selected Clark in the 48th round of the 2000 Major League Baseball (MLB) Draft, but Clark did not sign. He enrolled at the

University of Arkansas The University of Arkansas (U of A, UArk, or UA) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Fayetteville, Arkansas, United States. It is the Flagship campus, flagship campus of the University of Arkan ...

and played

college baseball College baseball is baseball that is played by Student athlete, student-athletes at institutions of higher education. In the United States, college baseball is sanctioned mainly by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA); in Japan, ...

for the Arkansas Razorbacks baseball team in 2002 before transferring

Wichita State University Wichita State University (WSU) is a public research university in Wichita, Kansas, United States. It is governed by the Kansas Board of Regents. The university offers more than 60 undergraduate degree programs in more than 200 areas of study in ...

to play for the Wichita State Shockers baseball team.

Texas Rangers

The Texas Rangers drafted Clark in the 11th round of the 2003 MLB Draft, and he signed.

Atlanta Braves

Clark played in

minor league baseball Minor League Baseball (MiLB) is a professional baseball organization below Major League Baseball (MLB), constituted of teams affiliated with MLB clubs. It was founded on September 5, 1901, in response to the growing dominance of the National Le ...

for the Rangers, then

Atlanta Braves The Atlanta Braves are an American professional baseball team based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Braves compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Eas ...

, and in independent baseball.

Kansas City Royals

He signed with the

organization in 2007. After a disappointing 2008 season in

Class AA Double-A (officially Class AA) is the second-highest level of play in Minor League Baseball in the United States since 1946, below only Triple-A. There are currently 30 teams classified at the Double-A level, one for each team in Major League B ...

of the minor leagues, Clark considered retirement. He again considered retiring after the 2012 season.

Houston Astros

Clark signed with the

organization before the 2013 season. The Astros promoted Clark to the major leagues for the first time on August 23, 2013, when they placed Max Stassi on the

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. On September 13, 2013, in a game against the

Los Angeles Angels The Los Angeles Angels are an American professional baseball team based in the Greater Los Angeles, Greater Los Angeles area. The Angels compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League West, ...

, Clark got his first hit in the Major Leagues off of starter Jason Vargas. He was outrighted off the Astros roster on October 2, 2013.

Coaching career

Clark retired after the 2013 season, and joined the

as their

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coordinator for the 2014 season. During the season, he became the Royals'

bullpen catcher The bullpen catcher is a member of a baseball team's staff, often a former professional player, who catches the ball for relief pitchers warming up before entering a game and starting pitchers before games. A bullpen catcher differentiates from a ...

. After the 2016 season, he was reassigned to a scout.

Personal

Clark's father, Doug, played minor league baseball for the

Oakland Athletics The Oakland Athletics (frequently referred to as the Oakland A's) were an American Major League Baseball (MLB) team based in Oakland, California from 1968 to 2024. The Athletics were a member club of the American League (AL) American League We ...

' organization. His wife, Jordan, was pregnant with their first child when he was first promoted to the majors.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Clark, Cody 1981 births Living people Sportspeople from Fayetteville, Arkansas Baseball players from Arkansas Baseball catchers Houston Astros players Arkansas Razorbacks baseball players Wichita State Shockers baseball players Spokane Indians players Clinton LumberKings players San Diego Surf Dawgs players Rome Braves players Wilmington Blue Rocks players Omaha Royals players Northwest Arkansas Naturals players Omaha Storm Chasers players Brisbane Bandits players Oklahoma City RedHawks players Corpus Christi Hooks players Kansas City Royals coaches Kansas City Royals scouts Major League Baseball bullpen catchers American expatriate baseball players in Australia Fayetteville High School (Arkansas) alumni