Last night I texted my mom some disappointing news: Tyler Clippard, her favorite Nationals player, had just been traded to Oakland.  Her response involved emojis with tears.

Once news of the trade broke, it was the only topic of conversation among the Nats Twitter community where I regularly converse with a bunch of fellow fans.  But as we all made sense of the deal and shared memories of Clippard, an interesting pattern emerged.  My mom was not the only Nats fan mom who counted him as her favorite.

Mom with Clippard warming up before a game in 2013

One fan told me her soon-to-be 87-year-old mom was “crushed” when she broke the news to her, and that her mom may be writing a letter of protest.

A Nats Twitter friend said of his mom, “Mine cried…still might be.”

Another friend said she herself is the mom in this situation, and dreaded telling her two daughters about one of their favorites leaving when they woke up this morning (the account she later posted of that process was very sad).

All of this made me wonder, who is the equivalent guy on the other Major League teams?  Fortunately baseball Twitter people are awesome, and after scrolling through my list to find fans of other teams I had some quick answers.

Royals:

@cjhannas oh Eric Hosmer, for sure.
— William Gallo (@GalloVOA) January 15, 2015

Pirates:

@cjhannas Neil Walker. As my mom would say, “he’s dreamy.”
— T (@taralumarie) January 15, 2015

Mariners:

@cjhannas but in the past a lot of people liked Raul Ibanez each and every time he was on the M’s (my mom loved him!)
— Tova Perlow (@DugoutDiva) January 15, 2015

Phillies:

@cjhannas Hamels!! The Moms? him
— Laura_B (@lb_423) January 15, 2015

Cardinals:

@cjhannas: Hmmm…moms? Well Yadi’s the most popular overall. But I would say moms are particularly fond of Matheny.
— Kelsey Shea Weinrich (@kelseyshea11) January 15, 2015

Orioles:

.@cjhannas Nick Markakis. But now he’s a Brave. I’m going to go JJ Hardy
— j money ham (@jfmonahan) January 15, 2015

Rangers:

@cjhannas Michael Young?
— Mina Park (@minapark) January 15, 2015

Brewers (Jonathan Lucroy):

@cjhannas @vodkalemonades @ktek7 LUUUUUUUUUUC
— Kristin (@10iskristin) January 15, 2015

There’s definitely a certain look that’s common among this group.  You could plausibly convince me that Walker, Hamels, Matheny, Hardy, Young and Lucroy are all cousins.  

And although I don’t know any Twins fans, discussions with the Royals fan Bill brought up the guy who may be the ultimate active mom fan favorite: Joe Mauer.  He’s one of the “cousins” too.

So long, Tyler, it’s been a real treat.