Matthew Paul Clement (born August 12, 1974) is an American former

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 ...

starting pitcher In baseball (hardball or softball), a starting pitcher or starter is the first pitcher in the game for each team. A pitcher is credited with a game started if they throw the first pitch to the opponent's first batter of a game. Starting pit ...

. Clement played for the

San Diego Padres The San Diego Padres are an American professional baseball team based in San Diego. The Padres compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Division. ...

(–),

Florida Marlins The Miami Marlins are an American professional baseball team based in Miami. The Marlins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East Division. The team plays its home games at LoanDepot Park. The ...

(),

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Division. Th ...

(–) and

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East Division. Founded in as one of the Ameri ...

(–). He batted and threw right-handed. Clement had a sinking fastball in the low 90s and a hard slider he mixed with a four-seamer and a

changeup A changeup is a type of pitch in baseball and fastpitch softball. The changeup is a staple off-speed pitch often used in a pitcher's arsenal, usually thrown to look like a fastball, but arriving much more slowly to the plate. Its reduced spee ...

. In nine seasons, Clement won 87 games and lost 86, and was 1–2 in postseason play, going 1–1 with the Cubs in 2003 and 0–1 with Boston in 2005. His win in Game 4 of the

2003 National League Championship Series The 2003 National League Championship Series (NLCS) was a playoff series in Major League Baseball’s 2003 postseason played from October 7 to 15 to determine the champion of the National League. It featured the Central Division champion and thi ...

at Florida brought the Cubs within one game of the pennant. He held opposing batters to a .233

batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average is ...

from 2002 to 2005, while posting a 47–42 record and a 3.99

ERA An era is a span of time. Era or ERA may also refer to: * Era (geology), a subdivision of geologic time * Calendar era Education * Academy of European Law (German: '), an international law school * ERA School, in Melbourne, Australia * E ...

Baseball career

In 2000, Clement led the major leagues in walks (125) and led the National League in

wild pitch In baseball, a wild pitch (WP) is charged against a pitcher when his pitch is too high, too short, or too wide of home plate for the catcher to control with ordinary effort, thereby allowing a baserunner, or the batter (on an uncaught third st ...

es three times between 2000 and 2003. In June 2004, Clement was 6-2 and a candidate to be named to the

All-Star Game An all-star game is an exhibition game that showcases the best players (the "stars") of a sports league. The exhibition is between two teams organized solely for the event, usually representing the league's teams based on region or division, bu ...

. But in his next six starts before the break, Clement went 0–4 despite a 2.15 ERA during that span; his

run Run(s) or RUN may refer to: Places * Run (island), one of the Banda Islands in Indonesia * Run (stream), a stream in the Dutch province of North Brabant People * Run (rapper), Joseph Simmons, now known as "Reverend Run", from the hip-hop group ...

support in those starts was just 1.19 runs per game. He finished the season with a 3.68 ERA but went 9-13 for the Cubs, who scored only 79 runs in his 30 starts (2.63 runs of support per game, the sixth-lowest mark in the NL). Against

American League The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is the younger of two sports leagues, leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western L ...

teams in inter-league play, Clement had a 7–7 record with a 3.60 ERA in 19 starts. As a member of the Boston Red Sox in the 2005 season, Clement was named as an All-Star Game selection for the first time in his big league career, replacing injured Blue Jays pitcher

Roy Halladay Harry Leroy Halladay III (May 14, 1977 – November 7, 2017) was an American professional baseball pitcher who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Toronto Blue Jays and Philadelphia Phillies between 1998 and 2013. His nickname, "Doc ...

. Clement's record was 10–2 before the All-Star break, and he finished the season at 13–6 with a 4.57 ERA. On July 26, 2005, Clement was struck in the head by a

line drive In the sports of baseball and softball, a batted ball is a pitch that has been contacted by the batter's bat. Batted balls are either fair or foul, and can be characterized as a fly ball, pop-up, line drive, or ground ball. In baseball, a fou ...

from Carl Crawford of the

Tampa Bay Devil Rays The Tampa Bay Rays are an American professional baseball team based in the Tampa Bay area. The Rays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East Division. They are one of two major league clubs based i ...

. Clement made just 12 starts in 2006, posting a 5–5 record with a 6.61 ERA, before having season ending shoulder surgery in September. He was rehabilitated at the Red Sox extended

spring training Spring training, also called spring camp, is the preseason of the Summer Professional Baseball Leagues, such as Major League Baseball (MLB), and it is a series of practices and exhibition games preceding the start of the regular season. Spri ...

complex in

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, but did not make a major league appearance in the 2007 season. On January 3, , Clement was signed to a major league contract with the

St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Centra ...

. The Cardinals' team doctor said that Clement was healthy and would be able to begin the season playing regularly. The Cardinals cited his recent rehabilitation and physical as reasons for adding him to the starting rotation for the 2008 season with no expected limitations upon reporting to Jupiter, Florida for spring training. However, Clement would begin the year on the

disabled list In Major League Baseball (MLB), the injured list (IL) is a method for teams to remove their injured players from the roster in order to summon healthy players. Before the 2019 Major League Baseball season, 2019 season, it was known as the disabl ...

after making no appearances in Spring training. On June 3, Clement made a minor-league rehab start at Single-A Palm Beach, allowing only one hit over six innings. He was released by the Cardinals on August 2. Clement signed a minor league contract with 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 ...

on December 12, 2008, and was invited to Spring training. After being unable to make a spot in the rotation, Clement announced his retirement from baseball on April 5, 2009.

Personal life

, Clement identified as an

evangelical Christian Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide, interdenominational movement within Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that emphasizes evangelism, or the preaching and spreading of th ...

. After retiring from baseball, Clement permanently moved back to his hometown of Butler, Pennsylvania, where he became the head coach of the boys' basketball team at his high school

alma mater Alma mater (; : almae matres) is an allegorical Latin phrase meaning "nourishing mother". It personifies a school that a person has attended or graduated from. The term is related to ''alumnus'', literally meaning 'nursling', which describes a sc ...

, Butler Senior High School. He also was part of an ownership group that purchased the Butler BlueSox.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Clement, Matt 1974 births Living people San Diego Padres players Florida Marlins players Chicago Cubs players Boston Red Sox players American League All-Stars Baseball players from Butler, Pennsylvania Major League Baseball pitchers People from McCandless, Pennsylvania Arizona League Padres players Spokane Indians players Idaho Falls Braves players Rancho Cucamonga Quakes players Clinton LumberKings players Mobile BayBears players Las Vegas Stars (baseball) players Gulf Coast Red Sox players Palm Beach Cardinals players Springfield Cardinals players Memphis Redbirds players

Baseball career

Personal life

See also

References

External links