US President Donald Trump and Former MLB player Roger Clemens attend a campaign rally for Republican US Senate candidate Ken Paxton at Freeman Coliseum in San Antonio, Texas, US, October 7, 2026. REUTERS/Evan Vucci
Former MLB superstar Roger Clemens fact-checked President Donald Trump during his Texas rally Wednesday night.
Trump traveled to San Antonio, Texas, to stump for Republicans like Tano Tijerina in his race against Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-TX), whom Trump attacked for what he considered to be a "disloyal act" by not becoming a Republican after Trump pardoned him. At the rally, Trump invited Clemens on stage to receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honor, because Clemens had not yet been elected to the Hall of Fame.
In typical Trump fashion, the president also rattled off a fact about Clemens that the former big league pitcher was quick to correct.
"Roger, how come you hit more batters than anybody in history?" Trump said. "And when he hit you, it hurt because it was a fastball at 99 [miles per hour] coming at your head. So, Roger had some problems."
Clemens corrected Trump's claims when he stepped to the microphone.
"Well, I'm stunned," Clemens said. "... This supersedes anything that I've done in my playing career."
"And the way he talked about all my stats, I guess he could be my agent. I could come out of retirement again," Clemens added. "But I don't think that I lead Major League Baseball in hit batters, Mr. President. And besides that, when you go inside, it's the hitter's job to get out of the way."
According to Baseball-Reference, the pitcher with the most hit batters in MLB history is Gus Weyhing, with 277 over 14 seasons of playing time. Clemens is 15th on the all-time list with 159 hit batters in 24 seasons.