Brent Aaron Clevlen (born October 27, 1983) is an American former professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to cat ...

who played parts of four major leagues seasons with the

Detroit Tigers The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the American League (AL) Central division. One of the AL's eight charter franchises, the club was f ...

and

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 (NL) National League East, East division. The Braves ...

Personal life

Clevlen graduated from Westwood High School in 2002."Clevlen cold, hungry"

The Austin American-Statesman The ''Austin American-Statesman'' is the major daily newspaper for Austin, the capital city of Texas. It is owned by Gannett. The paper prints Associated Press, ''New York Times'', ''The Washington Post'', and ''Los Angeles Times'' international ...

, Chuck Licata, June 19, 2003 He is married.

Major leagues

Clevlen was a 2nd-round pick by the

in the 2002 first-year player draft..In 2005, Clevlen was named the Tigers minor league players of the year while playing for Lakeland. He made his Major League debut on July 30, 2006, in a 6–4 loss to the

Minnesota Twins The Minnesota Twins are an American professional baseball team based in Minneapolis. The Twins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central Division. The team is named after the Twin Cities area w ...

. He started at

center field A center fielder, abbreviated CF, is the outfielder in baseball who plays defense in center field – the Baseball positions, baseball and softball fielding position between Left fielder, left field and Right fielder, right field. In the numberi ...

in his first game. His first catch in the field was intended to be a

sacrifice fly In baseball, a sacrifice fly (sometimes abbreviated to sac fly) is defined by Rule 9.08(d): "Score a sacrifice fly when, before two are out, the batter hits a ball in flight handled by an outfielder or an infielder running in the outfield in fair o ...

by Minnesota

catcher Catcher is a Baseball positions, position in baseball and softball. When a Batter (baseball), batter takes their at bat, turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the (home plate, home) Umpire (baseball), umpire, and recei ...

Joe Mauer Joseph Patrick Mauer (born April 19, 1983) is an American former professional baseball catcher and first baseman, who spent his entire 15-year Major League Baseball (MLB) career with the Minnesota Twins. A six-time All-Star, Mauer is the only ca ...

, but ended up being an inning-ending double play, as Clevlen threw out Luis Castillo at home plate. In his first MLB at bat, he doubled off Twins ace

Johan Santana Johan Alexander Santana Araque (; born March 13, 1979) is a Venezuelan former professional baseball starting pitcher. Santana pitched in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Minnesota Twins from 2000 to 2007 and for the New York Mets from 200 ...

. On August 1, 2006, in his second Major League game, Clevlen hit his first major league

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run i ...

against the

Tampa Bay Devil Rays The Tampa Bay Rays are an American professional baseball team based in St. Petersburg, Florida. The Rays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Since its inception, the team's home venu ...

in the 5th inning off pitcher

Travis Harper Travis Boyd Harper (born May 21, 1976) is a former Major League Baseball player. Harper was a relief pitcher for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays from 2000 to 2006. High school and college Travis Harper attended Circleville High School in Pendleton Count ...

. He later added another home run in the 9th inning off pitcher

Ruddy Lugo Ruddy Joraider Lugo (born May 22, 1980) is a Dominican-American former professional baseball relief pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays and the Oakland Athletics. Julio Lugo, who played in MLB for 12 s ...

going 3-for-5 for the night, with 3 runs scored and 2 RBI. Clevlen was optioned down to the Tiger's AAA-affiliate

Toledo Mud Hens The Toledo Mud Hens are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A affiliate of the Detroit Tigers. They are located in Toledo, Ohio, and play their home games at Fifth Third Field. A Mud Hens team has played in ...

later in the 2006 season as

Alexis Gómez Alexis de Jesús Gómez (born August 8, 1978) is a Dominican former professional baseball outfielder. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Kansas City Royals and Detroit Tigers, and in Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) for the Ch ...

emerged as a valuable bench player. Tigers manager

Jim Leyland James Richard Leyland (born December 15, 1944) is an American former professional baseball player, coach and manager. He serves as a special assistant to the Detroit Tigers of Major League Baseball (MLB). Leyland led the Florida Marlins to the ...

has stated that Clevlen would benefit from playing every day in Toledo, and remains second in the team's depth chart for center field. Following the season, Clevlen was named the third-best prospect and rated as possessing the best outfield arm in the Tigers' organization by ''

Baseball America ''Baseball America'' is a sports enterprise that covers baseball at every level, including MLB, with a particular focus on up-and-coming players in the MiLB, college, high school, and international leagues. It is currently published in the form o ...

''. In 2007, Brent was called up when the

expanded their rosters. In 2008, Clevlen was called up in place of injured

Clete Thomas Michael Clete Thomas (born November 14, 1983) is an American former Major League Baseball (MLB) outfielder who played for the Detroit Tigers and Minnesota Twins between 2008 and 2013. Career Amateur Thomas was born in Jacksonville, Florida and ...

, but returned to Toledo when Thomas was reactivated. On July 31, 2010, he played in four games for the

and then was

designated for assignment Designated for assignment (DFA) is a contractual term used in Major League Baseball (MLB). A player who is designated for assignment is immediately removed from the team's 40-man roster, after which the team must within seven days, return the pla ...

and became a free agent at the end of the season. Clevlen was to start the season with the independent

Wichita Wingnuts The Wichita Wingnuts were an independent baseball team based in Wichita, Kansas, in the United States. The Wingnuts were members of the South Division of the American Association of Professional Baseball. An expansion franchise in the 2008 seas ...

of the

American Association American Association may refer to: Baseball * American Association (1882–1891), a major league active from 1882 to 1891 * American Association (1902–1997), a minor league active from 1902 to 1962 and 1969 to 1997 * American Association of Profe ...

, but was purchased by the

Cincinnati Reds The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division and were a charter member of ...

on May 9, 2011. He was returned to Wichita after playing in 26 games for Triple-A

Louisville Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border. ...

. After playing in 46 games for Wichita, Clevlen was purchased by the

Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) National League East, East division. Since 2004, the team's home sta ...

and was assigned to Double-A

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of Letter (alphabet), letters, symbols, etc., especially by Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process invo ...

. In all of 2011 (104 games), Clevlen hit .303 with 19 HR and 62 RBI. On April 19, 2012, Clevlen signed a minor league deal with the

Arizona Diamondbacks The Arizona Diamondbacks (colloquially known as the D-backs) are an American professional baseball team based in Phoenix. The Diamondbacks compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. The f ...

, and was assigned to Double-A

Mobile Mobile may refer to: Places * Mobile, Alabama, a U.S. port city * Mobile County, Alabama * Mobile, Arizona, a small town near Phoenix, U.S. * Mobile, Newfoundland and Labrador Arts, entertainment, and media Music Groups and labels * Mobile ( ...

. He also spent time at Triple-A

Reno Reno ( ) is a city in the northwest section of the U.S. state of Nevada, along the Nevada-California border, about north from Lake Tahoe, known as "The Biggest Little City in the World". Known for its casino and tourism industry, Reno is the c ...

. He also began 2013 in the Diamondbacks organization, splitting time with Mobile and Reno before being released. Over those 2 seasons (152 games), Clevlen hit .265 with 19 HR and 77 RBI in 523 PA. On June 17, 2013 Clevlen returned to Wichita. He continued to play with Wichita in 2014 and became the American Association MVP with a slash line of .372/.447/.647 and signed with the Puebla Pericos of Liga Mexicano de Beisbol for the 2015 season. On February 25, 2016, Clevlen signed with the

of the

American Association of Independent Professional Baseball The American Association of Professional Baseball is an independent professional baseball league founded in 2005. It operates in the central United States and Canada, mostly in cities not served by Major League Baseball teams or their minor lea ...

. On November 16, 2018, Clevlen was announced at the manager of the Cleburne Railroaders (American Association of Independent Professional Baseball). On December 17, 2020, after two years as the manager, Clevlen was replaced by

Mike Jeffcoat James Michael Jeffcoat (born August 3, 1959), is an American former professional baseball player and also a former coach who pitched in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1983 to 1985, 1987 to 1992, and 1994. He played college baseball for Louisiana ...

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Clevlen, Brent 1983 births Living people Algodoneros de Guasave players American expatriate baseball players in Mexico Atlanta Braves players Baseball players from Austin, Texas Detroit Tigers players Erie SeaWolves players Estrellas Orientales players American expatriate baseball players in the Dominican Republic Gulf Coast Tigers players Gwinnett Braves players Lakeland Tigers players Leones del Escogido players Louisville Bats players Major League Baseball outfielders Mexican League baseball outfielders Mobile BayBears players Pericos de Puebla players Phoenix Desert Dogs players Reading Phillies players Rome Braves players Reno Aces players Toledo Mud Hens players West Michigan Whitecaps players Wichita Wingnuts players