[ HAWAII WINTER BASEBALL ]
JAMM AQUINO / JAQUINO@STARBULLETIN.COM
North Shore Honu third baseman Koby Clemens plays in the shadow of his famous father, Houston Astros pitcher Roger Clemens.
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Support system
Seven-time Cy Young Award winner Roger Clemens watches his son play for the North Shore Honu
A little extra attention just comes with the territory for Koby Clemens.
It's simply part of the deal when your father is a future Hall of Famer and one of the greatest right-handers in the history of baseball.
"It kind of comes with the name and how my dad's played and everything," said Clemens, the eldest son of Houston Astros star Roger Clemens. "I've gotten very accustomed to it growing up, always being around a lot of attention. I think I've grown up and handled it pretty well."
Given his pedigree, Clemens' name jumped out when the rosters for the Hawaii Winter Baseball were being assembled. A highly regarded prospect as a third baseman with the Astros organization, Clemens is spending the next couple of months on Oahu as a member of the North Shore Honu.
"We've got some of the best talent in not only in the U.S. but some of the best talent from Japan," Clemens said. "It's not only competition, it's a lot of fun bringing in a new culture and seeing their aspect of the game."
Clemens' famous father, who won the first of seven Cy Young Awards a couple of months before Koby was born in December 1986, arrived in town yesterday following the end of the Astros season. He watched last night's game between the Honu and West Oahu CaneFires from a balcony perched above the third-base dugout at Hans L'Orange Field.
JAMM AQUINO / JAQUINO@STARBULLETIN.COM
Astros pitcher Roger Clemens and wife Debbie attended his son's baseball game last night.
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"We're glad to be here, it was a long day, I left Houston this morning and got here in time to watch this," Roger Clemens said between innings. "I think everybody's really excited to have the league started back up and going."
It's been an eventful week for the Clemens family. Roger's season ended on Sunday when the Astros' late run at a playoff berth fell short, while Koby went 3-for-4 with a double and a triple in his debut with the Honu.
Then there was the Los Angeles Times story that reported Roger Clemens was among five players who were named in court filings as having used performance-enhancing drugs.
Clemens denied the claim and the report has been refuted by other sources since the story was posted.
"I wouldn't even comment on it because I don't want to put any validity to it," Roger Clemens said last night. "We basically said our statements and now you can see what's happening.
"My skin's pretty thick, I'm like a rhinoceros," he said, "but I have family and extended family as well as (Astros teammate) Andy (Pettite) and it hurts them and it's not fair to them either so I wish people would do their homework."
Although the development was upsetting for his son, Koby is keeping his head in the game for the winter season.
"It doesn't get to me because I know none of it's true," he said.
"My brothers and I are all right, we've dealt with a lot of different stuff in New York. But with Andy, his kids are getting hassled at school about it. It's kind of a tough deal because none of it's true. Neither one of those guys do it. It just sucks, that's all I can say.
"Either way you look at it, if you don't do anything, they assume you're guilty, and if you try to fight it, it makes you look more guilty. What do you do?"
JAMM AQUINO / JAQUINO@STARBULLETIN.COM
North Shore Honu third baseman Koby Clemens went 3-for-4 in his Hawaii Winter Baseball opener on Sunday.
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On the field, Koby is looking to use the next couple of months to build on his skills after his first full season of professional ball.
He was picked by the Astros in the eighth round of last year's Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft out of Houston's Memorial Senior High School and hit .297 in 33 games with Greenville, the Astros' Rookie League affiliate before ending the season with Single-A Tri City.
He spent the entire season this summer with Single-A Lexington, where he hit .229 with five home runs and 39 RBIs.
"It was a good experience," he said. "I needed it because coming out of high school I had a lot of success and having a little bit of failure last year, not having the best year, it was something I kind of needed and I know what I need to do to improve myself and get ready for next year.
"(Professional baseball is) a lot crazier than you think it is. You think it's pretty easy, but this game, once you think you've got it figured out it slams the door in your face."
He got to play a game with his dad in Lexington as Roger worked his way back into shape for his comeback with the Astros. One of Koby's more memorable moments of the season came in a simulated game in spring training when he went deep off Roger as the elder Clemens prepared for the World Baseball Classic.
"What no one knows is when we go live, when he's full-mode go, I'm probably 1-for-15 with 10 strikeouts against him. It just so happened I got the one hit in front of the world," Koby said.
"He'll definitely let me have it and give me his best stuff. It gets me prepared for the best of the best. I didn't get to see his prime stuff, I never got to see that 97-98 mph fastball, he's still pretty dirty with that split-finger."
The Clemens family has frequently visited Hawaii over the years, regularly vacationing on Maui. Roger said Koby and his brother Kory were baptized in Hawaii and his wife, Debra, got to play nine holes with Michelle Wie when they visited for the Sony Open in January.
"It's fun to come over here and map the island out like we have on Maui," Koby said. "I know almost everything on Maui, coming out here to Honolulu is just as much fun. I don't think anybody can turn down this vacation kind of atmosphere and playing baseball. It's awesome."
Although his father made a name for himself as one of the greatest pitchers in the game, Koby said he didn't have dreams of following his father's path to the mound and is trying to carve out a career as a position player.
"I just liked hitting better," said Koby, who has given up on guessing how much longer his dad will continue playing. "I liked playing third base. I never was intrigued by going out and throwing on the mound all the time. It wasn't, 'My dad's a pitcher, I don't want to be a pitcher,' rebel kind of deal. I liked hitting home runs rather than giving up home runs."