BY DAN GLICKMAN
For the second straight year, the Rochester Red Wings will host two professional baseball players for an after-Thanksgiving event.
Toronto Blue Jays utilityman (and Brighton High School graduate) Ernie Clement and White Sox outfield prospect (and Greece native) Casey Saucke will be at the Red Wings Team Store at Innovative Field on Saturday, November 30, signing autographs from noon through 1 p.m. as part of the team’s Small Business Saturday events. Clement, who was a finalist for the American League Gold Glove this season, previously signed autographs for fans at an event last year alongside McQuaid Jesuit alum Greg Cullen.
Clement is coming off a breakout season for Toronto. Making the Blue Jays roster out of spring training, the University of Virginia alum played a career-high 139 games (more games at the Major League level than he had in the first three years of MLB action combined), slashing .263/.284/.408 in 452 plate appearances while reaching career highs in hits (114), doubles (21), triples (3), home runs (12), RBI (51), and stolen bases (12). He was fourth in the American League in defensive Wins Above Replacement (a measure of how much better a player is than the average replacement available from the minors), and led all AL third basemen in range factor/9 (a stat that helps reveal how many plays a given player makes).
Born in Rochester and raised in Brighton, the 28-year-old won a College World Series with Virginia and was named the MVP of the prestigious Cape Cod League before being drafted by the Cleveland then-Indians in the fourth round of the 2017 drafts. After making his debut for Cleveland in 2021, he moved to the then-Oakland Athletics after being claimed off waivers in 2022 before signing with the Blue Jays ahead of the 2023 season.
Saucke, a Greece Athena graduate, also attended the University of Virginia. Drafted in the fourth round of the 2024 draft, Saucke made his professional debut with the High-A Winston-Salem Dash, where he slashed .290/.333/.398 in 24 games and 99 plate appearances. The 21-year-old is the 24th-ranked prospect in the White Sox system according to MLB.com’s MLB Pipeline, which notes strengths including a strong arm and solid speed.
The Red Wings Team Store is open from 10 a.m. through 4 p.m. on Saturday for the Small Business Saturday festivities, with mascots Spikes and Mittsy appearing to meet fans from 11 through noon ahead of the autograph signing. The Wings will have an in-store-only deal of 30% off all merchandise during the day.
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