ANAHEIM -- As his catch for the ages from the previous night still had the baseball world buzzing, Athletics center fielder Denzel Clarke couldn’t help but feel grateful for the person who made this all possible -- his mother, Donna Smellie-Clarke.
For those unfamiliar, Smellie-Clarke is somewhat of an icon in their native Canada. She began her athletic endeavors as a teenage gymnast before transitioning to track and field, making the Canadian national team at age 19. This sparked a decorated career, which saw her set a Canadian record for the long jump that has since been broken and reached its apex at the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles, where she represented her home country by competing as a heptathlete.
So when Clarke scaled the 8-foot wall in left-center field at Angel Stadium on Monday night to make a mind-boggling catch to rob Nolan Schanuel of a home run, he couldn’t help but conclude that his athletic bloodline was at least partially responsible for one of the greatest plays you’ll ever see.
“I like to say it did,” Clarke said before the A's dropped a 2-1 decision to the Angels on Tuesday night in the second game of the series. “I feel it [rubbing off on me]. She’s legit.”
You can’t really practice such a spectacular play, which had been replayed a countless number of times on every major sports network in the 24 hours since it occurred, but Clarke does believe his mother played a huge role in helping him prepare for this moment.
Clarke, ranked by MLB Pipeline as the Athletics' No. 6 prospect, did not pick up a baseball until around the age of 9, and it wasn’t until he was about 16 that he really saw baseball as a realistic career. Before then, Smellie-Clarke, now a club track and field coach in Canada, kept him active and involved in several sports while growing up in Toronto. That included having Denzel practice some of the same events she once competed in herself.
“I practiced everything,” Clarke said. “Long jump, sprints and all that stuff. She just always wanted to keep me athletic. She was always taking care of business.”
Never was that supreme athleticism more on display than Monday. Clarke practically transformed from outfielder to gymnast upon leaping at the wall by planting his right foot on the fence, grabbing the top of it with his right hand to balance his body as he fully stretched his entire upper body and gloved left hand over the wall to make the catch before half-spinning back onto the field.
There was no shortage of takes inside and out of the A’s organization regarding Clarke’s catch. Perhaps none better than A’s assistant general manager Billy Owens, who equated the catch to NBA star Vince Carter’s mind-blowing performance in the 2000 Slam Dunk Contest, which saw him leave fans in awe with dunks they had never seen before, including one where he slammed his entire arm fully through the rim to end it.
“Astonishing play,” Owens said. “You can put all the adjectives and hyperbole you want on it, and I’m still not sure you describe the play. Scintillating display of athleticism, timing, vertical, agility, creativity and dexterity. … In the moment, probably the best play anyone will ever see.”
An astonishing play that Denzel could not have pulled off without Donna.
“I give a lot of credit to my mom,” Clarke said. “She was very stern growing up, but also very lenient. She let us jump around on the couches and do everything. As a kid, I learned to control my body. I learned to manage my body in space. She put me in a bunch of different sports, which helped me learn a lot about body control. I’m very happy it’s paying off in this way.”