The Hall of Fame candidacy of MLB great Roger Clemens has just received a presidential endorsement.
“I played golf yesterday with the legendary Roger Clemens and his son, Kacy. Roger Clemens stands out as one of the all-time greatest pitchers, boasting 354 wins, securing the Cy Young Award seven times (a record by a substantial margin!), and featuring in six World Series, two of which he won! He ranks second to Nolan Ryan in strikeouts, and he ought to be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame right now!” President Trump wrote on Truth Social.
“There’s a belief that he used drugs, yet nothing was substantiated. He never failed a drug test, and Roger has consistently denied the accusations from the start. He was just as remarkable before these unfounded allegations were made against him. This rumor has persisted for years without any proof that he was a ‘druggie.’”
Trump stressed that he did not want to see Clemens end up in a situation like that of MLB hit king Pete Rose, who was reinstated after his death.
“This situation mirrors Pete Rose’s, where despite over 4,000 hits, they didn’t induct him into the Hall of Fame until I conversed with the Commissioner, who pledged to do it, but it was largely a broken promise as he only ‘considered it’ upon Pete’s death, and even then, he mentioned that Pete Rose’s inclusion was due to DEATH,” Trump wrote. “We cannot allow this to happen with Roger Clemens. 354 wins — Induct him NOW. He and his wonderful family should no longer endure this ‘nonsense’!”
Clemens has 354 MLB wins under his belt, and his 4,672 strikeouts are second all-time.
Yet, what would normally be a sure-fire first-ballot Hall of Fame career has been tainted by allegations linked to Clemens’ mention in the Mitchell Report. This report was a 20-month investigation into steroid and human growth hormone (HGH) use in MLB, led by former Democratic Senator George J. Mitchell, released in 2007.
In February 2008, Clemens appeared before Congress to attempt to clear his name. His testimony before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform had mixed effects on public opinion and resulted in legal actions against Clemens. He was indicted by a federal grand jury in Washington, D.C., on one count of obstruction of Congress, three counts of making false statements, and two counts of perjury.
Clemens was acquitted of all charges in 2012.
Although Trump was never convicted of using steroids, Jeff Novitzky, a former investigator on the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative (BALCO) trafficking case who also took part in the Mitchell Report investigation, remains certain that Clemens used steroids.
“We had DNA evidence in the Clemens case, with Clemens’ DNA and an anabolic steroid within a needle that was used to inject him,” he said.
Clemens, who entered Hall of Fame eligibility in 2013, never gained more than 65 percent of the vote in any of his ten years on the ballot.
