Roger Clemens has been denied entry to the Baseball Hall of Fame twice in the last four years, but President Donald Trump decided Wednesday night that the seven-time Cy Young winner deserves the nation's highest civilian honor instead. Speaking at a rally in San Antonio, Trump announced he would award Clemens the Presidential Medal of Freedom, calling him “maybe the greatest pitcher of all time.”
Trump made the announcement at a campaign rally for Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton at Freeman Coliseum, where Clemens had introduced the president before the crowd. As reported by clickorlando.com, the retired right-hander responded to the surprise with a simple, “Well, I'm stunned.” Reuters, via the Miami Herald, reported that Clemens said he wanted to receive the award from Trump specifically, and that Trump said he would compensate Clemens with the medal.
Trump also questioned, according to that same reporting, why Clemens has been denied election to Cooperstown, and he renewed his calls for the pitcher's induction during his remarks. The Presidential Medal of Freedom is the highest civilian honor a president can bestow, and under its rules there is no formal procedure for nominating or selecting recipients, according to the Congressional Research Service. The president has broad discretion over who receives it, and there is no fixed presentation ceremony attached to the honor.
A Pitching Résumé Without Parallel
Clemens spent 24 seasons with the Boston Red Sox, Toronto Blue Jays, New York Yankees and Houston Astros, compiling numbers that remain unmatched at his position. He is the only pitcher in history to win seven Cy Young Awards, and he finished his career with 354 wins and 4,672 strikeouts, according to the Houston Chronicle. By the stats alone, his case for Cooperstown would seem open and shut.
But suspicion over performance-enhancing drug use has followed Clemens for nearly two decades, and sportswriters have repeatedly declined to elect him to the Hall of Fame on those grounds. In his final year of eligibility on the writers' ballot in 2022, Clemens topped out at 65.2% of the vote, short of the 75% threshold needed for induction, the Houston Chronicle's report notes. Clemens has consistently denied using performance-enhancing drugs.
Shut Out Again by the Contemporary Era Committee
Clemens got another shot at enshrinement on December 7, 2025, when the Contemporary Baseball Era committee took up his candidacy, and he was denied entry again. Under the committee's rules, candidates who receive fewer than five votes become ineligible for the next ballot in 2028, meaning the earliest Clemens could reappear is 2031, per the same Houston Chronicle account. If he returns then and again fails to reach five votes, he would be barred from future appearances unless the rules change, according to ESPN.
That ESPN report also frames Clemens alongside Barry Bonds as two of baseball's most accomplished players still excluded from Cooperstown, their candidacies clouded by ties to performance-enhancing drugs. Clemens was indicted on charges of obstruction of Congress and perjury tied to his testimony about steroid use, and he was acquitted of those charges in 2012, the Houston Chronicle reported.
Joining an Exclusive Club of Athlete Honorees
If the medal is presented, Clemens would join a list of prominent athletes Trump has recognized with the honor, including golfer Tiger Woods, former Dallas Cowboys quarterback Roger Staubach and retired Yankees closer Mariano Rivera, according to clickorlando.com's reporting. Baseball players have received the Medal of Freedom going back decades; Joe DiMaggio became the first to be honored with it in 1977, and later recipients have included Jackie Robinson, Ted Williams, Hank Aaron and Roberto Clemente, per MLB.com.
For now, the announcement stands as Trump's word from a Texas rally stage rather than a finalized honor, consistent with a process that carries no formal nomination requirements and no set ceremony date. Whether Clemens's name ever appears on a Hall of Fame plaque remains an open question that won't be revisited until at least 2031, but for one night in San Antonio, the president made clear which honor he intends to deliver first.
