The Pelican Brief

Clifton to be honored at Wrigley on Friday for breakout season

Trevor Clifton and mom, Betsy, track the selections during the 2013 Major League Baseball Amateur Draft. The former Heritage Mountaineer was taken by the Chicago Cubs in the 12th round. Photo by Jolanda Jansma

By Stefan Cooper
Editor
Blount Press Row

Let’s start with the beard.

We hear your mom, Betsy, isn’t a big fan.

“She doesn’t like it,” former Heritage High School standout Trevor Clifton said. “She doesn’t like it at all.”

Clifton, left, will start 2017 with the Tennessee Smokies after a breakout season in Carolina this summer.

Looks like Betsy Clifton is going to have to hang in there a while longer. This summer, that beard played a role, real or imagined, in Trevor becoming one of the best young arms in baseball.