Single-handedly getting someone inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame is beyond the limit of presidential power.
Probably?
Donald Trump’s latest sports side-quest began Aug. 24 with a demand that Roger Clemens be added to the Hall of Fame – after playing golf with the seven-time Cy Young winner.
Undisputedly one of the greatest players in baseball history, Clemens’ legacy was soiled by steroid allegations brought on by his appearance in the 2007 Mitchell Report, and he failed to receive enough votes in 10 appearances on the Baseball Hall of Fame ballot.
Having scored a win on Major League Baseball’s reinstatement of Pete Rose in May, Trump’s again using the bully pulpit in his support for Clemens, but this case doesn’t look to have a path to victory.
The president still seems to believe MLB commissioner Rob Manfred can unilaterally add players to the Baseball Hall of Fame, but the museum is a completely separate entity from the league. Trump appears to have found this out to some degree, claiming in the Truth Social post that Manfred had ‘promised’ to put Rose in the Hall of Fame ‘but it was essentially a promise not kept because he only ‘opened it up’.’
Clemens will likely appear on a ballot again later this year, needing 12 of 16 votes from a committee made up of Hall of Famers, executives, media members and historians. He already struck out with such a group in 2022, earning less than four votes on the contemporary baseball era ballot.
Aside from the steroid allegations being a red line for voters, particularly those on the veterans committees, Clemens was divisive among peers and fans alike. Still, nearly two-thirds (65.2%) of the Baseball Writers’ Association of America ended up voting for him, so it’s certainly not as if Trump is in the minority thinking Clemens is worthy.
But Clemens isn’t some sort of grassroots candidatee.
Minds were made up about him years ago and even with lobbying from the most powerful man on the planet, the Hall of Fame’s gatekeepers have no interest in Clemens’ case, much less relitigating the steroid era at large. In fact, once Alex Rodriguez falls off the ballot in 2031, the Hall of Fame’s own ‘Steroid Era’ will come to an end.
Roger Clemens thanks Trump
Clemens and his son Kacy posted photos and videos of their day on the golf course with the president, including a scorecard that showed Trump shooting a 77 at his course in Northern Virginia.
Clemens shared Trump’s Truth Social post and added: ‘I appreciate the love! DT knows more than anyone the fake news that’s out there. Everyone has their agendas… I played the game to change my family’s direction generationally and to WIN!’
Roger Clemens Hall of Fame voting results
Clemens spent 10 years on the Baseball Hall of Fame ballot, nearly doubling his support over the decade but still coming up short of the 75% required vote share to earn a spot in Cooperstown.
2013: 37.6%
2014: 35.4%
2015: 37.5%
2016: 45.2%
2017: 54.1%
2018: 57.3%
2019: 59.5%
2020: 61%
2021: 61.6%
2022: 65.2%
2023 (veterans committee): < 25%