Christopher Hale Clemons (born October 31, 1972) is an American former

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

who played for the

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and ...

in 1997.

Amateur career

Born in Baytown, Texas, Clemons attended

McGregor High School McGregor High School (MHS) is a public high school located in McGregor, Minnesota, United States. It is and houses about 500 students and 50 faculty. The school colors are black and white and the school mascot is Mercury, the Roman god of spee ...

McGregor, Texas McGregor is a city in McLennan and Coryell counties in the U.S. state of Texas. The population was 4,987 at the 2010 census. McGregor lies in two counties, as well as two metropolitan areas. The McLennan County portion of the city is part of the ...

, and was selected in the 21st round of the 1991 Major League Baseball Draft by the Chicago Cubs. He opted to play baseball for the

Texas A&M University Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, or TAMU) is a public, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of the Texas A&M University System in 1948. As of late 2021, T ...

Aggies, and played on the Aggies' 1993

College World Series The College World Series (CWS), officially the NCAA Men's College World Series (MCWS), is an annual baseball tournament held in June in Omaha, Nebraska. The MCWS is the culmination of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Divisi ...

team. In 1993, he played collegiate summer baseball in the Cape Cod Baseball League for the Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox, where he was named the league's outstanding pro prospect. In 1994 he was an

All-America The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed upon an amateur sports person from the United States who is considered to be one of the best amateurs in their sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an All-Am ...

and All-

Southwest Conference The Southwest Conference (SWC) was an NCAA Division I college athletic conference in the United States that existed from 1914 to 1996. Composed primarily of schools from Texas, at various times the conference included schools from Oklahoma ...

selection, and was drafted by the

in the 1st round (33rd pick) of the 1994 amateur draft.

Professional career

Clemons played his first professional season with the Rookie league Gulf Coast League White Sox and Class A

Hickory Crawdads The Hickory Crawdads are a Minor League Baseball team of the South Atlantic League (SAL) and the High-A affiliate of the Texas Rangers. They are located in Hickory, North Carolina, and play their home games at L. P. Frans Stadium, which opened i ...

in . He made his major league debut in 1997 with the White Sox, and appeared in five games for Chicago that year. After the 1997 season, he was selected by 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 ...

in the 1997 Major League Baseball expansion draft, and spent the 1998 and 1999 seasons with the Triple-A

Tucson Sidewinders , "(at the) base of the black ill , nicknames = "The Old Pueblo", "Optics Valley", "America's biggest small town" , image_map = , mapsize = 260px , map_caption = Interactive map ...

Coaching career

In 2008, he was named assistant baseball coach at

McLennan Community College McLennan Community College (MCC) is a public community college in McLennan County, Texas. Located in Waco, Texas, it opened in 1965. MCC now serves about 9,000 students and has more than 700 employees. It is governed by a Board of Trustees ele ...

Waco, Texas Waco ( ) is the county seat of McLennan County, Texas, United States. It is situated along the Brazos River and I-35, halfway between Dallas and Austin. The city had a 2020 population of 138,486, making it the 22nd-most populous city in the st ...

. In 2009, he was named manager of the Victoria Generals collegiate summer baseball team in the

Texas Collegiate League The Texas Collegiate League (TCL) is a collegiate summer baseball league made up of teams from the states of Texas, Louisiana, and Oklahoma. The league's headquarters are in Coppell, Texas. Uri Geva, owner of the Brazos Valley Bombers, is the lea ...

, and received the league's coach of the year honors in 2009 and 2010.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Clemons, Chris 1972 births Living people Chicago White Sox players Major League Baseball pitchers Gulf Coast White Sox players Hickory Crawdads players Prince William Cannons players Birmingham Barons players Nashville Sounds players Tucson Sidewinders players Akron Aeros players Buffalo Bisons (minor league) players River City Rascals players Yarmouth–Dennis Red Sox players Baseball players from Baytown, Texas Texas A&M Aggies baseball players