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Tag: Roger Clemens

  • Is Kody Clemens Here to Stay for the Phillies? – Philadelphia Sports Nation

    Is Kody Clemens Here to Stay for the Phillies? – Philadelphia Sports Nation

    If you haven’t heard, Roger Clemens’ son has been playing a key role for the Phillies since Trea Turner was placed on the Injured List.
    The son of the 11-time All-Star and 7-time Cy Young award winner is on a pretty nice heater right now and is making a name for himself independently of his father.

    In 10 games this season with the Phillies, Kody Clemens is batting over .300, slugging .826, and has an OPS of 1.159, all while providing some flexibility all over the infield. Clemens’ highlight of the season and perhaps his career came last night when he hit a game-tying home run against the Nationals with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning. The Phillies would go on to win the game in the 10th on a sacrifice fly by Bryce Harper, something that would’ve never happened if Clemens didn’t bat in the ninth.

    The 28-year-old utility man came over in the Gregory Soto deal going into 2023 and has floated between Triple-A and the majors with the Tigers and now with the Phillies. Clemens came very close to making the Opening Day roster this year after a hot spring training but ultimately was sent down late in the Spring.

    Clemens seems like he could be a nice spark off the bench if a situation presents itself late in games.

    After Saturday night’s heroics, he is almost certainly gaining popularity among the fan base, but Turner is not going to be out forever.

    Clemens has a spot on the team right now because Edmundo Sosa has gotten the bulk of the time at shortstop after Turner went on the IL.

    The lefty is basically filling the utility infield spot that was Sosa’s.

    It’s going to be interesting to see what the Phillies decide to do when Turner returns, but what Clemens is doing should absolutely not be overlooked.

    PHOTO: —

    Evan Carroll

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  • Bonds, Clemens Hall of Fame bids now on even shakier ground

    Bonds, Clemens Hall of Fame bids now on even shakier ground

    SAN DIEGO — Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens were rejected by baseball writers in their bids for the Baseball Hall of Fame ten times. On Sunday, the duo chased by steroid suspicions got another rebuke from a panel that included many of their peers.

    The door hasn’t formally shut on their Cooperstown chances. But the latest letdown means the pair — with eight MVPs and seven Cy Young Awards between them — may never be celebrated with the sport’s greatest individual honor.

    Fred McGriff was the only player elected Sunday to the Hall of Fame by a 16-member contemporary era committee, one of several groups credentialed to seal a player’s enshrinement. McGriff was chosen unanimously, while neither Bonds or Clemens received more than three votes.

    When it comes to the Baseball Hall of Fame, there are several potential avenues to induction, but it can be a very bumpy road for all but the most straightforward cases.

    HOW CAN PLAYERS BE ELECTED TO THE BASEBALL HALL OF FAME?

    Players are first considered by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America no sooner than five calendar years after their big league career ends. A BBWAA screening committee creates the annual ballot, and members who have been active baseball writers for at least 10 years are eligible to vote.

    Players on Major League Baseball’s ineligible list cannot appear on BBWAA ballots, the mechanism by which Pete Rose has been excluded from consideration. Voters are instructed to base their decisions on “the player’s record, playing ability, integrity, sportsmanship, character, and contributions to the team(s) on which the player played.”

    The result of this year’s writers’ vote — which requires 75% for induction — will be announced Jan. 24.

    Players are removed from the BBWAA ballot if they receive less than 5% of the vote. They also are taken off after 10 appearances. Bonds (66%), Clemens (65%) and Curt Schilling (58.6%) fell well short in their final chances on the BBWAA ballot last January.

    Once a player is no longer being considered by the BBWAA, his case shifts to the Hall’s committee system — divided into the contemporary and classic eras. The contemporary era committee considers candidates whose careers were primarily from 1980 on. The classic panel examines players who had their most significant impact on the game prior to 1980.

    The committees rotate yearly. The contemporary committee approved McGriff on Sunday at baseball’s winter meetings in San Diego. Another contemporary committee meets next year to consider managers, executives and umpires. The classic committee votes in December 2024.

    The ballot for each panel consists of eight candidates selected by a BBWAA-appointed historical overview committee. There is no limit when it comes to how often a candidate can appear on an era ballot.

    Rose also is ineligible for era ballots because of his inclusion on MLB’s ineligible list.

    The 16 members of each era committee — comprised of Hall of Famers, executives and writers — are appointed by the Hall’s Board of Directors. Voters can select as many as three candidates, and the support of 75% of ballots cast are required for induction.

    WHAT NOW FOR BONDS, CLEMENS AND SCHILLING?

    The next time Bonds, Clemens and Schilling could be considered would be by a contemporary committee for the 2026 Hall of Fame class.

    Bonds and Clemens look like no-doubt Hall members on the backs of their baseball cards, and Schilling has a strong case, as well.

    A seven-time NL MVP, Bonds set the career home run record with 762 and the season record with 73 in 2001. A seven-time Cy Young Award winner, Clemens went 354-184 with a 3.12 ERA and 4,672 strikeouts. Schilling went 216-146 with a 3.46 ERA in 20 seasons, winning the World Series with Arizona in 2001 and Boston in 2004 and 2007.

    But Bonds and Clemens have been accused of using performance-enhancing drugs, and support for Schilling dropped after he made hateful remarks toward Muslims, transgender people, reporters and others. Bonds has denied knowingly using performance-enhancing drugs, and Clemens maintains he never used PEDs.

    Schilling got seven votes Sunday, and it’s possible a future committee may swing in his favor. For Bonds and Clemens, that now seems unlikely.

    There was a thought that maybe Bonds and Clemens would get more sympathy from their peers than writers for their suspected steroid use during an era tarnished by the stain of PEDs. That clearly wasn’t the case.

    This year’s contemporary committee included Hall of Famers Greg Maddux, Jack Morris, Ryne Sandberg, Lee Smith, Frank Thomas and Alan Trammell, plus executives Paul Beeston, Arte Moreno, Kim Ng, Theo Epstein, Dave St. Peter, Derrick Hall and Ken Williams; and media members Steve Hirdt, LaVelle Neal and Susan Slusser. Chipper Jones was supposed to be on the committee but missed Sunday’s vote due to COVID-19. He was replaced by Hall.

    The Hall of Fame did not reveal all down-ballot totals, saying only that Bonds and Clemens received fewer than four votes — a strong indication that unless new evidence exonerates them from PED charges, they might never get their day in Cooperstown.

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    Follow Jay Cohen at https://twitter.com/jcohenap

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    AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb and https://twitter.com/AP—Sports

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  • Cronenworth, Padres rally to stun Dodgers 5-3 to reach NLCS

    Cronenworth, Padres rally to stun Dodgers 5-3 to reach NLCS

    SAN DIEGO — Baseball fans in San Diego have been waiting a long time to party like this and the Padres were more than happy to finally oblige.

    What made it so much sweeter was that they toppled the mighty Los Angeles Dodgers, the best team in the majors this year and one that had beaten up on the Padres regularly for the better part of two seasons.

    Jake Cronenworth hit a tiebreaking, two-run single with two outs in the seventh inning and San Diego rallied past the Dodgers 5-3 Saturday night to advance to the NL Championship Series for the first time since 1998.

    Petco Park shook and the sellout crowd of 45,139 roared when Josh Hader struck out Mookie Betts, Trea Turner and Freddie Freeman in succession to end the Padres’ third straight win against the Dodgers.

    Hader and third baseman Manny Machado jumped into each other’s arms and the rest of the team joined them in a wild celebration on the infield grass as fireworks went off above the downtown ballpark. Machado and Juan Soto exhorted the fans for more as they all reveled in the middle of a rare San Diego rainstorm.

    “Our fans have been waiting for so long and I used to be that fan that was waiting,” said Joe Musgrove, the hometown kid who started the clincher. “It feels good to be on this side of the ball, I’ll tell you that, but these fans deserve to celebrate tonight.

    “I know the job’s not done, we’ve got a lot of baseball ahead of us still, but this is something that needs to be celebrated,” Musgrove said. “Those guys handed it to us all year long and when it came down to it and we needed to win ballgames we found ways to do it.”

    Before a sign-carrying crowd chanting “Beat LA! Beat LA!,” the Padres stunned the 111-win Dodgers with a five-run seventh to win their best-of-five NL Division Series 3-1.

    “It’s about to be a party out here tonight,” said Musgrove, who grew up a Padres fan in the San Diego suburbs.

    “I mean, since I was a little kid we’ve been getting beat up by the Dodgers. But when it comes down to it and the games matter, this team stepped up, from top to bottom.”

    The Padres had lost nine straight series to the Dodgers before winning the one that mattered the most.

    San Diego will host the Philadelphia Phillies in Games 1 and 2 of an all-wild card NLCS on Tuesday and Wednesday. The Phillies beat the defending World Series champion Atlanta Braves 8-3 earlier in the day to win their NLDS in four games.

    “This is what the city’s been waiting for for a long time,” said Machado, the Padres’ $300 million third baseman and unquestioned leader.

    The Padres last reached the NLCS 24 years ago when they beat Atlanta in six games and were then swept by the New York Yankees in the World Series. A handful of players from that team watched from a luxury suite, including Hall of Fame closer Trevor Hoffman and center fielder Steve Finley.

    It was a soul-crushing ending for the Dodgers after the best regular-season record in club history and manager Dave Roberts’ prediction during spring training that they’d win the World Series.

    “Shock factor, very high. Disappointment, very high. It’s crushing,” Roberts said. “Each guy gave everything they had all year long, and a tremendous season. The great thing about baseball is the unpredictability, and the tough thing about it is the same thing.

    “Nothing I can say is going to make it feel any better. Obviously we didn’t expect to be in this position,” he added.

    The game was delayed 31 minutes at the start by showers, which returned in the eighth inning and prompted a short delay while the grounds crew worked on the mound.

    After left-hander Tyler Anderson stymied the Padres through five scoreless innings, San Diego broke through against the Dodgers’ bullpen in the seventh.

    Jurickson Profar drew a leadoff walk against Tommy Kahnle, took third on Trent Grisham’s single and scored when Austin Nola’s infield single glanced off Freeman’s glove at first base. Yency Almonte, who took the loss, came on and was greeted by Kim Ha-seong’s RBI double inside the third base line, followed by Soto’s tying single to right.

    With two outs and the crowd on its feet, Cronenworth singled to center off local product Alex Vesia to give the Padres the lead, raising his arms in celebration as he rounded first and then punching the air with his right fist as he pulled into second base on the throw home. Soto, acquired from Washington in a blockbuster trade Aug. 2, slid home headfirst and jumped up and cheered.

    “We talked about it all day — we’re winning tonight no matter what the situation is,” Cronenworth said.

    “It took a team effort to beat a really good team and we did that,” Machado said.

    After the first rain delay, fans were amped up in anticipation of Musgrove pitching his hometown Padres into the NL Championship Series. The big right-hander from suburban El Cajon, a first-time All-Star in 2022, was the first Padres pitcher from San Diego to make a postseason start in his hometown.

    But Anderson outpitched Musgrove, holding the Padres to two hits through five innings.

    The Dodgers took a 2-0 lead in the third. Betts walked with one out and Turner scorched a grounder past third baseman Machado, who has carried the Padres much of the season, to move Betts to third. Freeman, who helped the Braves win the World Series last year before signing with the Dodgers as a free agent, doubled down the right field line to bring them both in.

    Will Smith hit a sacrifice fly against Steven Wilson with the bases loaded in the seventh for a 3-0 lead, but winning pitcher Tim Hill prevented further damage.

    The Dodgers will be left with an empty feeling. They won the NL West for the ninth time in 10 seasons and finished 22 games ahead of San Diego. The Dodgers went 14-5 against the Padres in the regular season.

    Musgrove was trying for his second straight playoff series-clinching win. On Sunday night, he dominated the New York Mets at Citi Field, allowing just one hit and one walk in seven innings in a 6-0 win that sent the Padres to the NLDS.

    He gave up two runs and six hits in six innings against the Dodgers, struck out eight and walked three.

    FIRST PITCH

    Jake Peavy, the 2007 NL Cy Young Award winner who was Musgrove’s boyhood idol, threw out the ceremonial first pitch to former teammate Mark Loretta. Musgrove switched to Peavy’s No. 44 after he was obtained by the Padres prior to the 2021 season.

    UP NEXT

    Dodgers: Play their spring training opener Feb. 25 against Milwaukee.

    Padres: RHP Yu Darvish likely will get the start Tuesday in Game 1 of the NLCS.

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    More AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/MLB and https://twitter.com/AP—Sports

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