Trump says he'll award ex-MLB pitcher Roger Clemens the Presidential Medal of Freedom

Roger Clemens is not in the National Baseball Hall of Fame but he will receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom, President Donald Trump announced Wednesday.

Clemens introduced Trump at a rally in San Antonio on Wednesday, with Trump dropping the announcement as the former pitcher stood nearby. During the announcement, Trump said he had played golf with Clemens earlier this year, which prompted him to call MLB commissioner Rob Manfred about his Hall of Fame case:

"We had a great time, he's an amazing guy. I said, 'I'm going to call the commissioner of baseball.' It's a ridiculous thing that you're not in the Hall of Fame with that kind of record. He won seven Cy Youngs!"

It's worth noting the MLB commissioner has no power over who gets into the Hall of Fame. That is determined first by voters from the Baseball Writers Association of America (BBWAA), then a committee of voters determined by the Hall of Fame itself.

Trump did successfully intervene on the part of the late Pete Rose last year, pushing Manfred to remove the league's all-time hits leader from the ineligible list. Clemens is not on that list, nor will Rose reach the Hall of Fame without a successful vote.

Trump is correct that Clemens won seven Cy Young Awards, two more than any other pitcher in history. He also won two World Series championships, 11 All-Star selections, an AL MVP award, two 20-strikeout games and two triple crowns. It's one of the most impressive résumés in baseball history, but Clemens never received more than 65.2% of the BBWAA vote, or more than 25% of the vote in two go-arounds with the committee.

That would be due to rampant allegations of steroid use, which included dozens of mentions in the Mitchell Report based on testimony and evidence from his former trainer Brian McNamee, who said he injected Clemens with anabolic steroids and human growth hormone for years.

Clemens is generally accepted to have been a steroid user, but has always denied it. That was apparently enough for Trump, who chalked up Clemens' excellence in his 30s and 40s to natural athleticism:

"People talk drugs, he never admitted to anything. They have no information. They didn't find anything. It's not like, 'Oh jeez, load it up.' He never admitted to anything. He's just a physical monster, OK?"

Due to recent Hall of Fame rule changes, Clemens won't be considered for induction until at least 2031, and will be permanently ineligible if he again fails to receive at least five votes that year.

The Hall of Fame's character clause instructs voters to consider personal shortcomings with candidates, which has been the main justification for keeping steroid users out. With Clemens' case, it also comes up over allegations of a relationship with late country singer Mindy McCready.

In 2008, the New York Daily News reported that Clemens had been engaged in an affair with McCready since she was 15 years old. McCready confirmed she had a relationship with Clemens but denied it began when she was 15, while Clemens apologized for unspecified "mistakes in my personal life" but denied the claim that he had an improper relationship with a 15-year-old girl. McCready died by suicide in 2013 at the age of 37.

On Wednesday, Clemens said he was glad to receive the Medal of Freedom from Trump:

"I'm stunned, number one. Twenty-four years, y'all, this supersedes anything I've done in my playing career. To get it from this man, this president, there wouldn't be another president I'd want to get it from."

One awkward moment did come during the announcement, when Trump a) claimed Clemens was MLB's all-time leader in hit batters and b) said Clemens told him that resentment from hit batters was what sank his Hall of Fame eligibility:

"He was known for two things as a pitcher, power and accuracy. I said, 'Then Roger, how come you hit more batters than any other pitcher in history,' which is true. He hit more batters than any — and when he hit you, it hurt. When you have a ball going at 99 mph and it's aimed at your head — so Roger had some problems.

"He told me, part of the difficulty is the people on the board were people that he played against, so 'They all hate me.'"

Neither claim passes muster. Clemens is not MLB's all-time leader in HBPs, he ranks 15th in history with 159. If you narrow the group to only the live-ball era (since 1920), he's still only sixth.

Clemens himself disputed that claim while on stage:

"I don't think I lead Major League Baseball in hit batters, Mr. President."

As for the question of voters, the journalists that make up the BBWAA probably weren't annoyed about Clemens' propensity for hitting batters. As for the 16-person Contemporary Baseball Era committee that rejected Clemens in 2023 and 2026, we know who the voters were.

Former executives, veteran media members and baseball historians made up a majority of both committees. The players on the committees consisted of Chipper Jones, Greg Maddux, Jack Morris, Ryne Sandberg, Lee Smith, Frank Thomas, Alan Trammell, Fergie Jenkins, Jim Kaat, Juan Marichal, Tony Pérez, Ozzie Smith and Robin Yount. According to Stathead, none of Clemens' 159 HBPs were at the expense of any of those 13 players.

It remains to be seen when Clemens will receive the Medal of Freedom. Trump announced in Februrary that Winnipeg Jets goaltender Connor Hellebuyck would receive the Medal of Freedom for his heroics in Team USA's gold medal win at the Olympics.

Barring some sort of secret ceremony, Hellebuyck has yet to receive the award.