MEMPHIS, Tennessee – Former Memphis Redbirds infielder and coaching veteran Stubby Clapp has been named the club’s manager for the upcoming 2017 season, the St. Louis Cardinals announced Wednesday.
Clapp succeeds Mike Shildt, who was promoted to Quality Control Coach with the Cardinals after serving as Redbirds manager in 2015 and 2016.
“We are pleased to welcome back Stubby to the Cardinals organization as manager of the Memphis Redbirds,” Cardinals General Manager John Mozeliak said. “Stubby has worked hard to get this opportunity and will bring a balanced approach to managing and player development.”
“My family and I feel very blessed to have been given this opportunity to be a part of the St. Louis Cardinals organization again,” Clapp said. “We are excited to be back in Memphis working with the Memphis Redbirds on and off the field. The Redbirds have the best fans in baseball, and we look forward to being back at home with them at AutoZone Park.”
Clapp’s history in Memphis dates back to the early days of the Redbirds, as he played 425 games from 1999-2002 and still holds the franchise’s career records for triples (19) and walks (222). He ranks second in runs scored (258) and third in games played, doubles (87), extra-base hits (128) and total hits (418).
He was a member of the Redbirds’ first Pacific Coast League championship team in 2000, where he hit three home runs and drove in 11 runs with a .404 on-base percentage during the playoffs. Clapp also recorded the first hit in AutoZone Park history earlier that season, with a single to center field.
Clapp reached the major leagues in 2001 with the Cardinals, where he appeared in 23 games and hit .200 with two doubles. In all, Clapp played over 1,000 minor league games during his career and boasted a .274 lifetime batting average with 55 triples, 115 stolen bases and played six different positions.
Prior to returning to Memphis, Clapp spent four seasons as a hitting coach in the Toronto Blue Jays organization, including the 2015 and 2016 seasons with the Double-A New Hampshire Fisher Cats. Clapp began his coaching career in 2007 in the Houston Astros system, and he managed at the short-season level in 2011 and 2012 with the Tri-City ValleyCats in the New York-Penn League.
With Tri-City, Clapp put together an 84-67 record and reached the league finals in 2012.
Clapp also has extensive international playing and coaching experience representing his native Canada, as he played in the 1999 Pan American Games (bronze medal), the 2004 Athens Olympics, the 2008 Beijing Olympics and the 2009 World Baseball Classic. He won two gold medals and one bronze medal as a coach for Team Canada in the 2011 Baseball World Cup, the 2011 Pan American Games, the 2013 World Baseball Classic and the 2015 Pan American Games.
Clapp and his wife, Chastity, have two sons, Cooper and Cannan, and a daughter, Crosby.
Clapp and the Redbirds take the field for the first time on Thursday, March 30 against the Cardinals in a “Battle of the Birds” exhibition game. Multiple season and mini-membership ticket options for the 2017 season are on sale now, and all include the “Battle of the Birds.”
For more information on season memberships and mini-memberships, visit www.memphisredbirds.com. For more information on “Battle of the Birds,” visitwww.memphisredbirds.com/battleofthebirds.
The Clapp File
Name: Richard Keith “Stubby” Clapp
Born: February 24, 1973, Windsor, Ontario, Canada
Family: wife Chastity; sons Cooper, Cannan; daughter Crosby
Drafted: 1996 36th round, St. Louis Cardinals (Texas Tech University)
Professional Playing Career:
1996: Johnson City Cardinals (R-STL)
1997: Prince William Cannons (ADV A-STL)
1998: Arkansas Travelers (AA-STL)
1999-2001: Memphis Redbirds (AAA-STL)
2001: St. Louis Cardinals (MLB)
2002: Memphis Redbirds (AAA-STL)
2003: Richmond Braves (AAA-ATL)
2004: New Hampshire Fisher Cats (AA-TOR), Syracuse SkyChiefs (AAA-TOR),
2005-06: Edmonton Cracker-Cats (IND)
International Playing Career:
1999: Team Canada (Pan American Games) — bronze medal
2004: Team Canada (Athens Olympics)
2008: Team Canada (Beijing Olympics)
2009: Team Canada (World Baseball Classic)
Coaching Career:
2007: hitting coach, Greeneville Astros (R-HOU)
2008: hitting coach, Lexington Legends (A-HOU)
2009: hitting coach, Greeneville Astros (R-HOU)
2010: hitting coach, Lexington Legends (A-HOU)
2011-12: manager, Tri-City ValleyCats (SS-A HOU)
2013-14: hitting coach, Dunedin Blue Jays (ADV A-TOR)
2015-16: hitting coach, New Hampshire Fisher Cats (AA-TOR)
2017-present: manager, Memphis Redbirds (AAA-STL)
International Coaching Career:
2011: Team Canada (Baseball World Cup) — bronze medal, Team Canada (Pan American Games) — gold medal
2013: Team Canada (World Baseball Classic)
2015: Team Canada (Pan American Games) — gold medal
