SAN ANTONIO (AP) — President Donald Trump announced Wednesday night that he would award the Presidential Medal of Freedom to fireballer Roger Clemens, calling the seven-time Cy Young winner “maybe the greatest pitcher of all time.”
Addressing a rally in San Antonio, Trump renewed his calls for Clemens to be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. That's an honor the pitcher known as “The Rocket” has yet to receive because of suspicions he used steroids during a 24-year career that featured time with the Boston Red Sox, Toronto Blue Jays, New York Yankees and Houston Astros.
“We’re giving him the Presidential Medal of Freedom,” Trump said. “And, along with the Congressional Medal of Honor, it’s the highest award bestowed upon anyone.”
The president continued: “He'll be in the Hall of Fame someday, but he deserves it. One of the greatest athletes, and maybe the greatest pitcher, of all time."
He added that the medal “is a big step up from the Hall of Fame.”
Trump has given the medal to various athletes during his two terms in the White House, including golfing legend Tiger Woods, former Dallas Cowboys quarterback Roger Staubach, famed Yankees closer Mariano Rivera and Lou Holtz, former coach of Notre Dame football.
He's bestowed the same honor on Elvis Presley posthumously and on Rush Limbaugh the year before the conservative radio host died.
Wednesday's surprise revelation came near the end of a Trump speech that lasted more than 100 minutes, and with the crowd having lost some of its enthusiasm. Clemens was attending the event, and the president called him to the stage, where the retired right-hander offered, “Well, I’m stunned.”
“This supersedes anything that obviously I've done in my playing career,” Clemens said. “And to get it from this man, this president, there wouldn’t be another president I’d want to get it from.”
Clemens, who was raised in Houston, said he was honored that the announcement came in Texas and added of Trump: “You’re talking about a winner. That’s a winner right there.”
Clemens, like slugger Barry Bonds and many other stars widely suspected of using performance-enhancing drugs, was repeatedly rejected by baseball writers in his bid for the Hall of Fame. There are other avenues where Clemens and others could eventually make it, but the road is not easy.
Clemens isn't the first star baseball player Trump has made a Hall of Fame case for. The president issued a posthumous federal pardon last year for the late Pete Rose, which led to Major League Baseball lifting its ban on the all-time career hits leader.
Trump has called for Rose to be inducted in the Hall of Fame too — also, so far, unsuccessfully.
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Weissert reported from Washington.
Roger Clemens introduces President Donald Trump at a campaign rally at the Freeman Coliseum in San Antonio, Wednesday, Oct. 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
President Donald Trump embraces Roger Clemens at a campaign rally at the Freeman Coliseum in San Antonio, Wednesday, Oct. 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
President Donald Trump listens as Roger Clemens speaks at a campaign rally at the Freeman Coliseum in San Antonio, Wednesday, Oct. 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
NEW YORK (AP) — Victor Mesa Jr. hit a tiebreaking, two-run homer off Max Fried in the sixth inning, and the Tampa Bay Rays beat the New York Yankees 4-3 on Wednesday night with the help of a fan interference call for a three-game sweep of their AL Division Series.
Ryan Vilade also homered for the Rays, who reached the American League Championship Series for the first time since 2020 and host the Chicago White Sox or Cleveland Guardians in the opener on Monday.
After Mesa's homer gave the Rays a 4-2 lead, Anthony Volpe appeared to hit a two-run shot against Griffin Jax with two outs in the bottom half as a fan reached over the left-field wall and caught the ball over the glove of a leaping Mesa.
A video review determined the ball would not have cleared the fence but would not have been caught by Mesa. Volpe was awarded an RBI double and George Lombard Jr. was allowed to score from first base. Jax recovered to strike out Spencer Jones.
Baseball's adaptation of video technology was key to the inning.
Lombard reached with a one-out walk when a 3-1 pitch called a strike by plate umpire Dan Bellino was ruled inside on an ABS challenge. Austin Wells then walked on full-count changeup but an ABS challenge by Rays catcher Liam Hicks ruled the pitch caught the inside corner for a strikeout, bringing up Volpe.
Quite a change from 1996, when umpires did not have technology to assist and Derek Jeter's homer for the Yankees helped turn around the ALCS opener despite young fan Jeffrey Meier reaching over the right-field wall where Baltimore's Tony Tarasco was set to catch the ball. MLB began using video replay for home run calls in 2008 and allowed challenges to ball/strike decisions starting this year.
Ian Seymour pitched 1 1/3 scoreless innings for the win, Kevin Kelly struck out pinch-hitter Giancarlo Stanton to strand a runner in the eighth and Bryan Baker pitched the ninth for his third save of the series.
Seeking its first World Series title, Tampa Bay celebrated on the field of the big-spending Yankees for the second time in two weeks after clinching the AL East on Sept. 22. New York opened the season with MLB's third-highest payroll at $303 million while the Rays were 26th at $91 million.
Swept in a best-of-five postseason matchup for the first time since the 1980 ALCS against Kansas City, the Yankees ended their 17th straight season without a World Series crown. That equaled their longest drought since winning their first championship in 1923, a gap between titles in 1978 and '96.
Yankees captain Aaron Judge missed the postseason after straining a calf on Sept. 16. The three-time AL MVP played just seven games after May 31 because of a fractured rib and the leg injury, an absence the team couldn't overcome.
New York batted .130 in the series and was outscored 10-5.
After sweeping Boston in the Wild Card Series, New York never led against the Rays and has not advanced past a higher-seeded team in the postseason since 2020.
Jonathan Aranda put the Rays ahead with an RBI single in the third and Ben Rice tied the score against Nick Martinez with a single in the bottom half, his eighth RBI of the postseason.
Vilade, a 27-year-old getting extensive big league playing time this year with his sixth major league organization, hit an opposite-field, 340-foot drive into the right-field short porch in the fourth. The ball, just over the glove of a jumping Jones, would not have been out of any other big league ballpark.
Volpe, starting at second base in place of Jazz Chisholm Jr., hit a 96.6 mph liner off Martinez’s back with two outs in the fourth for an infield single, and Seymour relieved. Jones’ opposite-field double landed beyond Mesa, driving in Volpe.
Junior Caminero singled in the sixth and Mesa sent a sweeper deep into the right-field seats to chase Fried. It was the first home run he allowed to a left-handed hitter since August 2025.
Tampa Bay gets four days off and will have played just three games in 14 days before starting the ALCS.
See AP’s full MLB coverage here
Tampa Bay Rays' Yandy Díaz, left, Jorge Mateo (9), Chandler Simpson (14) and Nick Fortes (40) celebrate the team's win in Game 3 of baseball's American League Division Series against the New York Yankees, Wednesday, Oct. 7, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
Tampa Bay Rays' Jonathan Aranda, center right, and the rest of the team celebrate their win in Game 3 of baseball's American League Division Series against the New York Yankees Wednesday, Oct. 7, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
The Tampa Bay Rays celebrate the team's win in Game 3 of baseball's American League Division Series against the New York Yankees, Wednesday, Oct. 7, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
New York Yankees' Anthony Volpe celebrates after scoring on a Spencer Jones double during the fourth inning in Game 3 of baseball's American League Division Series against the Tampa Bay Rays, Wednesday, Oct. 7, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
Tampa Bay Rays' Ryan Vilade celebrates his solo home run durin the fourth inning in Game 3 of baseball's American League Division Series against the New York Yankees, Wednesday, Oct. 7, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
Tampa Bay Rays left fielder Victor Mesa Jr. makes an attempt on a ball interfered with by fans that umpires reviewed and ruled a run-scoring double by New York Yankees' Anthony Volpe during the sixth inning in Game 3 of baseball's American League Division Series, Wednesday, Oct. 7, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
Tampa Bay Rays left fielder Victor Mesa Jr. makes an attempt on a ball interfered with by fans that umpires reviewed and ruled a run-scoring double by New York Yankees' Anthony Volpe during the sixth inning in Game 3 of baseball's American League Division Series, Wednesday, Oct. 7, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
Tampa Bay Rays' Victor Mesa Jr. celebrates his two-run home run during the sixth inning in Game 3 of baseball's American League Division Series against the New York Yankees, Wednesday, Oct. 7, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
