Among baseball heroics, Clement still most proud to be Julie's son

TORONTO -- Ernie Clement’s first word was “ball.” With one word, he told his parents what their lives would soon revolve around.

He’s not far from home now, having grown up in Rochester, N.Y., but Clement has come such a long way from that kid in the backyard. On one side of the border, he’s a member of Team USA at the World Baseball Classic. On this side, he’s one of the most beloved athletes in Canada, a breakout star of the 2025 World Series run whose No. 22 jerseys fill Rogers Centre each night.

To those who know Clement, though, he’s still just Ernie, still just the kid from Rochester who’d ride around in the back seat of his mom’s car from practice to practice, game to game. Ahead of Mother’s Day, Clement reflected on how much his mother, Julie, has meant to him and how their relationship continues to grow -- even now that a few more people know who Julie’s son is.

• Clement does it all, Okamoto stays sharp for surging Blue Jays

“I’d play catch with my mom. I would go to work with her a lot of the time, too, so we created a really good bond early on,” Clement said. “She had quite a few jobs. She worked at this place called Snow Country and she was a school psychologist at the middle school. I got really close with my mom. We just had a great bond, a great relationship early on. I don’t know if she liked sports, but because I did, she’d take me golfing, play catch with me in the yard -- just little things like that so we got to hang out. It’s still like that.”

Julie and Clement’s dad, Peter, were always finding time to get him to the next sport, the next tryout and the next game. He remembers that, even though his family “didn’t have a ton of money,” they’d always find a way.

If Clement grew up in Florida as a young ball player, it would have been a different life, but he was in Rochester, not far from the Canadian border. This wasn’t a hotbed for NCAA and big-league scouts, so Julie and Peter did everything they could to get Clement to these showcases and travel ball teams, none of which were cheap.

Since Clement has grown up, though, his relationship with his mother has grown even stronger. He no longer needs a ride to the ball park, but life in pro ball comes with its own challenges. At low points in Clement’s career, he’s turned to his mother to get him back on track. We’ve come to know Clement as a fan favorite in Toronto, but his climb through the Minor Leagues wasn’t quick or easy. Julie has helped Clement to keep hold of the joy he finds in this game and appreciate why it matters so much to him.

“It’s not just baseball, it’s life. Any time I’m going through something or need some guidance or advice, or just a shoulder to cry on, she’s the one I go to,” Clement said. “That’s always been the case. She’s the best person in the world that I’ve ever met. She’s about as selfless as it gets. Between my two sisters and myself, she’s always there. I look up to her and I try to be like her every single day."

As he’s gotten older, Clement understands that it was never about sports. It was about spending time with his mom. The car rides mattered just as much as the games.

“The baseball stuff is secondary,” Clement said. “I think she’s proud of the man I’ve become and am still becoming. I’m still working on myself. She gets to see all of the stuff behind the scenes. I think she’s really proud. If I can be half the human being she is, I’ll be doing all right.”

Clement is doing just fine. An entire country of baseball fans feels like they know him. He’s the everyman who everyone knows by his first name, “Ernie,” but he’s still Julie’s boy, and he still just wants to play ball.