Clarke Schmidt recognizes mom’s sacrifices in a military family ahead of Mother’s Day start

With a YES Network camera and reporters’ phones pointed at him, Clarke Schmidt patiently waited for more questions following his last outing on May 9. “He just steals my heart,” Renee told the Daily News. Renee will watch the game from home in Atlanta with her mother, Janet, husband, Dwight, and older son, Clate, a cancer survivor who pitched at Clemson and in the minors.

With a YES Network camera and reporters’ phones pointed at him, Clarke Schmidt patiently waited for more questions following his last outing on May 9. When the Yankees starter realized the inquiries were over, he seized an opportunity to broadcast a message before everyone stopped recording.

“Also want to shout out my mom,” Schmidt said. “Happy birthday! I love you so much!”

The declaration naturally brought Renee Schmidt to tears. The same happened to her friends when she shared the clip of her son, which came after Schmidt threw a career-high six innings while allowing two runs against the Athletics.

“He just steals my heart,” Renee told the Daily News.

Schmidt’s next start is set for Mother’s Day, giving the self-proclaimed “mama’s boy” a chance at another special outing. Renee will watch the game from home in Atlanta with her mother, Janet, husband, Dwight, and older son, Clate, a cancer survivor who pitched at Clemson and in the minors. The family will celebrate in-person next weekend when Schmidt is lined up for another start in Cincinnati.

Married to a military man, Renee is used to distance sometimes separating the family.

While Dwight now flies for Delta Air Lines, the former Marine Corps reserve was deployed to Afghanistan when Schmidt was in middle school and Saudi Arabia when the right-hander was a senior in high school. An F-18 pilot, Dwight also served active duty during the Bosnian War before Schmidt, 27, was born.

With deployments ranging from 6-8 months, Renee had to do “everything” at home for her sports-obsessed sons when Dwight ventured overseas, according to Schmidt. That included driving them to and from games — which Renee and Janet always tried to attend — and hosting team hangouts at the family’s home.

“For her to make those sacrifices, all while working a job and continuing to live her life, it obviously means a lot to me,” Schmidt told The News. “Stuff like that doesn’t go unnoticed to me. She’s made a lot of sacrifices for me.”

Renee, who runs a women’s boutique outside of Atlanta, said that being a military wife requires independence and a no-quit attitude. But she added that the armed forces are “like a family,” and friends and actual kin were always willing to help her and her boys. “It takes a village,” she said.

Janet played a huge part in that village, adding to the Schmidt family cheering section, endearing herself to teammates, and cooking delicious meals. To this day, she and Renee pace about and comment throughout Schmidt’s starts, even if Dwight and Clate prefer a more peaceful viewing experience.

“Clark and Clate both love their Nana,” Renee said, making sure to include a shout-out of her own. “She is a very special lady in their life, too.”

But Renee’s relationship with her younger son truly blossomed during Schmidt’s senior year of high school. With Dwight deployed and Clate, now 29, away at college, the mother and teenager enjoyed one-on-one bonding time.

It was during that period that Schmidt made his career aspirations clear.

“I just remember him telling me, ‘Mom, I’m buckling down. I just want you to know nothing’s going to be going on in my life except baseball and working out and eating right and doing all the right things for my body,’” Renee recalled. “And I was like, ‘OK,’ you know, whatever. And that’s pretty much what he did.”

Renee saw her son grow and mature quickly after that, and he eventually settled on playing college ball at South Carolina. Renee took Schmidt on his first visit there — and her mother’s intuition immediately told her that he’d end up there.

Three years later, the Yankees used the 16th overall pick in the 2017 draft on Schmidt, and he debuted for the team in 2020.

After a few seasons of going up and down between the majors and minors and back and forth between the rotation and bullpen, Schmidt has received his first extended opportunity to start for the Yanks this year thanks to some injuries. His overall numbers, including a 5.35 ERA, are not great, but the youngster is hoping to build off his last two starts, which saw him hold opponents to two earned runs over 10.1 innings.

Schmidt will look to continue progressing Sunday. As he does, he’ll be thinking about his “All-Star” mom on the mound.

“I’ll always be eternally grateful for her and everything that she’s done for me,” Schmidt said.

“She had to step up big time, and she did. She’s the best.”

()