Old man Roger Clemens gets lit up in hilarious performance for Savannah Bananas
By Mark Powell
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Former MLB pitcher Roger Clemens made his return to the mound on Saturday night in Houston with the Savannah Bananas. Clemens spent several years late in his career with the Astros, so he certainly had a friendly crowd at Minute Maid Park.
Unfortunately for Clemens, all the support in the world couldn't prepare a man in his 60's to face even minor-league level competition. Clemens gave up four runs, including a two-run home run to the Party Animals (real team, I swear).
7x Cy Young Award Winner, Roger Clemens, takes the mound for the Savannah Bananas at Minute Maid Park. pic.twitter.com/Rc5ZT3sAdj
— Savannah Bananas (@TheSavBananas) March 10, 2024
Clemens wasn't the only former Astro playing in this game, as Roy Oswalt made an appearance as well. Clemens won the Cy Young award with the Astros in 2004. He was 41 years old, and pitched to a 2.98 ERA. The following year he finished third and had a 1.98 ERA (and arguably a better season).
Roger Clemens makes appearance for Savannah Bananas
The Bananas MLB stadium tour includes several notable venues, as per The Athletic, "they will take Banana Ball to Fenway Park (Boston), Nationals Park (Washington, D.C.), Progressive Field (Cleveland), Citizens Bank Park (Philadelphia) and LoanDepot Park (Miami)."
Clemens has Hall-of-Fame numbers, but was not selected to Cooperstown in part due to his connections to performance-enhancing drugs. Clemens 354 wins are second-most only to Greg Maddux since 1965.
Clemens was initially mentioned in the Mitchell Report in 2007, and tried to clear his name in court. He's never been convicted of a crime, but the stain on his reputation lives on.
As Clemens found out the hard way, pretty much any Hall-of-Fame candidate associated with PEDs will fall short of the necessary percentage points to enter Cooperstown. While he may not have used steroids for the vast majority of the year, the sad truth is that we don't know enough.
Throwing pitches live from the bump at 61-years-old is impressive enough, though, and Clemens deserves credit regardless of how he performed.
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