Donald Trump Hit With Major Blow as MLB to Ignore Plea on Close Friend, Deems Insider

Before his turn into politics, Donald Trump was often seen at the New York Yankees stadium. Then he went, not as a politician but as a good friend to the Steinbrenner family and as a supporter of the Yankees. And this bond extended to players, too, most notably Roger Clemens. And the president even took to social media to extend his support for Clemens and his making it to the Hall of Fame.

Trump was emphatic to Clemens and praised his seven Cy Young awards, 354 career wins, and his dominance across decades. As far as the PED use, Trump said, “People think he took dr***, but nothing was proven. He never tested positive, and Roger, from the very beginning, totally denies it. He was just as great before those erroneous charges were leveled at him.” 

Trump, in fact, is so close that he even plays golf with Clemens and his son and insists over and over that baseball shouldn’t ignore its true legends. Clemens, after hearing the support, thanked the president for sticking up for him. But the reality is, no matter who says what—rules are rules—and an MLB insider is talking facts.

USA Today’s Bob Nightengale bluntly mentioned, “Someone needs to tell Donald Trump that neither MLB nor the Baseball Writers’ Association of America has any say in Roger Clemens’ Hall of Fame candidacy at this point. I voted for Clemens and Barry Bonds all 10 years they were on the BBWAA ballot—but their time ended.”

So that’s the bitter truth, at least for Clemens—his fate now lies in the hands of the Contemporary Baseball Era Committee. The 16-member panel, which is made up of the Hall of Famers, executives, historians, and writers, will vote in November. Clemens and Bonds then would need 12 votes to get enshrined. The problem is that the last time they were up, Clemens barely scratched the surface. He barely got four votes, and that’s not a setback; it’s a mountain. Now, Trump’s call might earn attention, but it won’t move the needle much.

For Clemens, no matter what his numbers are—354wins and 11 all-star selections—all stay, and he is still a legend. Yet the shadow of the PED suspicions keeps the door closed, no matter who speaks on his behalf.

The truth on how much influence Trump has in MLB?

Donald Trump’s weighing in on the future of Major League Baseball players is not a new thing. Before coming out to support Clemens, he actually stood for another MLB player—Pete Rose. And MLB commissioner Rob Manfred revealed that the support from Trump played a crucial role in one of the league’s most dramatic rulings in recent memory—the decision to end Pete Rose’s permanent ban from the game. Even though many didn’t take this decision by the league lightly. 

Speaking to MLB team owners in New York, Manfred admitted that Trump’s voice did factor in. “The president was one of a number of voices that were supportive of the idea that this was the right decision. Obviously, I have respect for the office and the advice that he gave I paid attention to, but I had a lot of other people that were weighing in on the topic, as well.”

Manfred’s May 13 ruling stated that the permanent ineligibility ends upon the passing of the disciplined individual and clears Rose and 16 others from the list. This decision not just lifted a ban that’s a decade long but also opened Pete Rose to finally be considered for the Hall of Fame—to be among the baseball greats. Rose passed away last September at 83 years old, but was banned in 1989 after an investigation revealed that he had bet on games while managing the Reds.

Though he had denied the accusations, he later admitted to betting, and that actually made him one of the sport’s most controversial characters. But the wait is not over, because Rose’s case won’t even be before the Hall’s Classic Baseball Committee until December 2027.  But the fact is that Trump’s push helped, so what’s saying that Clemens’s push won’t end up anywhere?