President Donald Trump announced during a rally in San Antonio, Texas, on Wednesday night that he is awarding the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Roger Clemens, the seven-time Cy Young Award winner and two-time World Series champion, according to Breitbart News.
Clemens learned of the honor in real time. He was on stage to introduce the president when Trump made the announcement from the podium.
“We’re giving him the Presidential Medal of Freedom,” Trump said, per Breitbart.
The former pitcher’s reaction was captured on camera and in the pool report from the event. “Well, I’m stunned, number one,” Clemens told the crowd. “And again, 24 years, y’all. This supersedes anything that, obviously, I’ve done in my playing career. And to get it from this man, this president, there wouldn’t be another president I’d want to get [it] from.”
A 24-season career, and a complicated legacy
Clemens, nicknamed “The Rocket,” pitched 24 seasons in Major League Baseball. His stops included 13 years with the Boston Red Sox, six with the New York Yankees, and two each with the Toronto Blue Jays and Houston Astros, per the California Post.
He won the American League MVP award in 1986 and twice captured the pitching Triple Crown, in 1997 and 1998. He finished his career with 354 wins, which ranks ninth on the all-time list, and Trump described him from the stage as “maybe the greatest pitcher of all time.”
Those numbers were not enough to earn Clemens induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame. His candidacy was shadowed by allegations of steroid use; he was named 82 times in the 2007 Mitchell Report, the independent investigation into performance-enhancing drugs in the sport. Clemens has never tested positive for a banned substance, and he has consistently denied using steroids.
The Hall of Fame question has followed Clemens since he became eligible for the ballot, and it remains unresolved. His statistical case — more than 4,600 strikeouts, seven Cy Young Awards, two championships — is one of the strongest of the modern era. The voters who withheld their support cited the doping allegations as the central reason.
Joining a short list of baseball figures
The Presidential Medal of Freedom is the nation’s highest civilian honor, awarded at the president’s discretion to individuals who have made significant contributions to American life, culture, or national security.
Clemens will join a small group of baseball figures who have received the medal. According to Breitbart, that list includes Babe Ruth, Vin Scully, Yogi Berra, Ernie Banks, Stan Musial, Frank Robinson, Roberto Clemente, Hank Aaron, Ted Williams, Jackie Robinson, Mariano Rivera, and Joe DiMaggio.
The timing of the announcement — made from a rally stage rather than the White House — is notable. Presidential Medal of Freedom ceremonies are typically held in Washington, often in the East Room, with the recipient’s family present. Trump has previously used rallies and other public events to preview or announce honors.
For Clemens, the award arrives more than a decade after his final major-league appearance and in the middle of an ongoing debate about how the sport remembers the stars of the steroid era. Whether the medal shifts that conversation, or sits alongside the Hall of Fame snub as a separate verdict on his career, is likely to be argued by fans and voters for years.
Clemens did not elaborate on the timing of a formal ceremony. The White House has not released additional details about when the medal will be presented.
Source: www.breitbart.com — https://www.breitbart.com/sports/2026/10/08/president-trump-reveals-mlb-legend-roger-clemens-will-receive-medal-freedom/