First Base Coach
Stubby Clapp enters his 4th season as a member of the St. Louis Cardinals coaching staff after serving as the manager of the triple-A Memphis Redbirds of the Pacific Coast League from 2017-18. Clapp won back-to-back PCL titles in his two years as manager of the Redbirds and won the Triple-A Championship in 2018 as Memphis crushed Durham 14-4 in the title game giving the Redbirds their first such title after finishing runner-up in 2000, 2009 and 2017. In two years as the Memphis skipper, Clapp recorded a .619 winning percentage (174-107) including a franchise best record of 91-50 in 2017. Clapp has been recognized as Pacific Coast League Manager of the Year in 2017 and 2018. Baseball America recognized Clapp as their Minor League Manager of the Year in 2017 and he received the J. Roy Stockton/Bob Broeg Award for outstanding achievement in baseball from the St. Louis chapter of the BBWAA. Prior to 2017, Clapp managed two years (2011-12) in the Astros organization with Tri-City of the New York-Penn League leading the Valley Cats to a first place division finish in 2012 and runner-up in the championship series to Hudson Valley. Clapp came to the Cardinals from the Blue Jays organization where he was a hitting coach for double-A New Hampshire (2015-16) of the Eastern League and before that with single-A Dunedin (2013-14) of the Florida State League. In 2014, Clapp received the Blue Jays' 2014 Bobby Mattick Award for excellence in Player Development. Often referred to as the “Mayor of Memphis,” Clapp became the first and only Memphis Redbirds player to have his number retired by the team in 2007. Known for his grit and hard play day in and day out, Clapp was beloved by fans for his energy and the backflips he routinely performed when taking the field. In his Redbirds career, Clapp appeared in a total of 425 games. He sits at the top of the Redbirds' career leaders in walks (222) and triples (19), while also ranking second in runs scored (258) and third in games (425), at-bats (1,556), hits (418), doubles (87), and extra-base hits (128). He was a member of the Redbirds' first PCL Championship team in 2000, where he hit three homers and drove in 11 during the playoffs. Earlier that year, Clapp recorded the first hit in AutoZone Park history, with a single to center, and set the Redbirds' single-season record for triples with eight. A graduate of Texas Tech University, the Windsor, Ontario, native was drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals in the 36th round of the 1996 First-Year Player Draft. He played for Johnson City (R) in 1996, Prince William (A) in 1997 and Arkansas (AA) in 1998 before making his debut with Memphis (AAA) on April 8, 1999 against Calgary at Tim McCarver Stadium. Clapp made his Major League debut on June 18, 2001 against the Cubs. He appeared in 23 career games for the Cardinals that season, posting a .200 average with two doubles and one RBI. Clapp played the 2003 season for the Braves' Richmond (AAA), followed by a 2004 campaign that was split between New Hampshire (AA) and Syracuse (AAA) in the Blue Jays organization. Clapp finished his career playing the 2005-06 seasons for the Edmonton Cracker-Cats of the independent Northern League. Following his playing career, Clapp spent 2007-12 in the Houston Astros organization: three seasons as the hitting coach for Lexington (A), one season as hitting coach for Corpus Christi (AA), before taking on his first managerial role with Tri-City. Clapp has represented Canada in numerous international baseball competitions. He recorded a game-winning, bases-loaded single to beat the United States in the first round of the 1999 Pan American Games in Winnipeg. Clapp also played for the Canadian National team in the 2004 Olympics in Athens, 2008 Olympics in Beijing, and the 2006 and 2009 World Baseball Classics. Clapp served as a coach in the 2013 World Baseball Classic and was third base coach for the gold medal-winning Canada national baseball team at the 2015 Pan American Games. He was the third member of his family to be given the nickname "Stubby," along with his grandfather and father. He and his wife, Chastity, have three children: sons Cooper (aka "Stubby IV") and Cannan, and daughter Crosbie.