President Trump surprised pitching great Roger Clemens on a Texas rally stage by announcing he will give him the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest honor a president can give a civilian.
Story Snapshot
- Trump called Clemens “maybe the greatest pitcher of all time” and said the medal “is a big step up from the Hall of Fame.”
- Clemens has never been voted into baseball’s Hall of Fame because of steroid accusations he has always denied.
- Clemens thought he was only there to introduce Trump and told the crowd he was “stunned.”
- A jury acquitted Clemens in 2012 of charges that he lied to Congress about steroids.
A Surprise in San Antonio
Clemens walked onstage at Freeman Coliseum in San Antonio thinking his job was to introduce the president at a Republican campaign rally. The surprise came on Wednesday, October 7, near the end of a speech that ran more than 100 minutes. “We’re giving him the Presidential Medal of Freedom,” Trump told the crowd.
Trump’s reason was simple: he believes Clemens is one of the best to ever play. “He’ll be in the Hall of Fame someday, but he deserves it. One of the greatest athletes, and maybe the greatest pitcher, of all time,” Trump said. He added that “along with the Congressional Medal of Honor, it’s the highest award bestowed upon anyone.”
Why the Hall of Fame Kept Him Out
Clemens was never voted into the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York. The 2007 Mitchell Report, a major investigation into drug use in baseball, named him. His former strength coach, Brian McNamee, later testified that he injected Clemens with steroids in 1998, 2000 and 2001.
Clemens has always said he did not use the drugs. He was charged with lying to Congress about it, and a jury acquitted him of all charges on June 18, 2012. Even so, baseball writers turned him down year after year. In 2022, his last year on their ballot, he got 65.2% of the vote, short of the 75% he needed. Trump has said before that the “only reason” Clemens is not in the Hall is “rumors and innuendo, which were not proven.”
The Rocket’s Record
Clemens, nicknamed “The Rocket,” grew up in Houston. He pitched 24 seasons for the Boston Red Sox, Toronto Blue Jays, New York Yankees and Houston Astros. He won seven Cy Young Awards, the prize for the best pitcher in each league each season, plus two World Series rings. His 4,672 strikeouts rank third all-time.
Trump read off Clemens’s stats from the stage. Clemens joked that hearing them made him think he “could come out of retirement again.”
Clemens Reacts
“Well, I’m stunned,” Clemens said. “This supersedes anything that obviously I’ve done in my playing career.” He said that getting it in Texas meant a lot to him, and he praised the man giving it. “And to get it from this man, this president, there wouldn’t be another president I’d want to get it from,” he said. “That’s a winner right there.”
Clemens will join a list of sports greats who have received the medal, including Tiger Woods, Roger Staubach, Mariano Rivera and Lou Holtz. The White House has not announced a date for the ceremony. For Clemens and his fans, the president’s word at a packed Texas rally already feels like the honor the Hall of Fame has never given him.
Sources:
nypost.com, justthenews.com, fox26houston.com
