IL1 Indianapolis Indians

Jeff Clement: a Tale of Ten Bases

Published on July 5, 2012 under International League (IL1)
Indianapolis Indians News Release


INDIANAPOLIS -- Jeff Clement was sure he had a second home run well before the baseball settled into the monstrous Fourth of July crowd packing the right-field seating berm.

"It felt good off the bat, for sure," Clement said. "It was a longer at bat -- [Louisville righty Jordan Smith] threw me a lot of pitches and I kept fouling them off and fouling them off and then finally was able to barrel one up and knew it had a pretty good chance of going."

A good chance, indeed. The ball landed well beyond the right-center-field fence, nearly at the apex of the grassy knoll that hosts one half of Victory Field's lawn seating.

The home run was the 12th of the season -- and second of the game -- for Clement, who also had a double while going 3-for-4 with two RBI and three runs scored, providing some fireworks of his own before fans were treated to a pair of actual pyrotechnic displays in celebration of the Independence Day holiday.

Add up those three extra-base hits and Clement had 10 total bases in Wednesday night's 6-1 win over the division-rival Bats. It was the second time this season that Clement has racked up 10 total bases in a single game, and he's the only Indianapolis hitter to have done so.

Clement's other game with 10 total bases came on June 2 against the Syracuse Chiefs and didn't include multiple home runs; instead, he hit for the cycle.

"I haven't given that much thought," Clement said with a laugh when asked which game was more fun. "Both were enjoyable, neither happen often in a career, so when it does happen, you've really got to soak it up."

While it was obvious he has enjoyed his recent success at the plate -- .317 average, four doubles, one triple, four homers, nine RBI and 10 runs in his past 10 games -- Clement is quick to turn the attention away from himself and toward the team and other contributors.

"Most importantly, the team won the game, which is great," Clement said. "We've been on a really good run up to this point. We've been really consistent all season and especially the last couple of months have been really hot.

"Last night was great just due to the fact that we had a packed house and the fans were really behind us. We got an early home run from Chase [d'Arnaud], which was huge, and obviously Jeff Locke pitched very well, giving up one hit and one run. So for me to be able to add into all of that was really enjoyable."

Despite the fact that more that 14,000 fans were at Wednesday night's game and nearly 10,000 people saw him it for the cycle, Clement wasn't convinced he plays better in front of larger crowds.

He did say it's more fun, though.

"You definitely enjoy playing in front of a big crowd more," Clement said. "There's more electricity, more energy in the place and that's what we want to be able to do, to play in front of a lot of people."

Clement's success in his past 10 games are his season in a nutshell, if time missed from soreness in his surgically repaired left knee is factored out.

The Indians slugger leads the team with 12 homers and 24 doubles, which rank him third in the International League standings for two-baggers. His .296 season average is also currently the best on the team.

That potent mix of power and average has Clement tied for the fifth-most extra-base hits in the league this year, but he says he doesn't dwell on the stats.

"It's not something I really think about when I step up to the plate, I just go up there looking for a good pitch to hit and try to put a good swing on it," Clement said. "Obviously, the night that I hit the cycle and last night I was able to put some good swings on the ball, but I've [also] had my fair share of games where it hasn't gone so well. You just have to really stay even-keeled on a daily basis and not get too high or too low with the successes or the failures."

And though Clement knows the ins and outs of the ups and downs, he does admit he's enjoying playing on an Indians team that is off to its best start since the 1988 season.

"It's fun to show up to the park every day knowing you've got a chance to win," Clement said.

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