Roger Clemens throws batting practice before Phillies game against Dodgers
The elder Clemens threw to his son, Phillies infielder Kody Clemens, as well as a few others, like Kyle Schwarber and Nick Castellanos.
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Phillies infielder Kody Clemens will be in Oakland facing the A’s on Father’s Day weekend, and his father, Roger, will be on the road for a business trip, so they decided to come up with a creative solution to celebrate it.
Roger Clemens, the seven-time Cy Young winner, who won 354 games and struck out 4,672 batters, took the mound Friday afternoon. He threw to his son as well as a few other Phillies, like Kyle Schwarber and Nick Castellanos.
“I think Schwarber wanted to make it happen so he could take me deep, and he did,” Roger said. “He was talking the whole time. He sounded like a horse jockey. He was talking the whole time I was throwing. I had to throw him one splitter to get him off from hitting another homer.”
Added Kody: “He threw Kyle a couple of splits just to mess with him. I think he got a swing and miss there. So that was funny.”
Added Schwarber: “He got me to swing and miss today. So, that’s pretty good.”
It had been a while since Clemens had pitched in Philadelphia. Because he primarily pitched in the American League, he didn’t face the Phillies at Veterans Stadium when he was pitching for the Red Sox, Yankees, and Blue Jays. But he did get his chance to pitch at Citizens Bank Park when he pitched for the Astros from 2004-06. The Astros were in the National League team back then, and he pitched in Philadelphia twice over that span.
On Sept. 4, 2006, Clemens took the mound against Cole Hamels. He allowed one earned run and two walks with six strikeouts over five innings in a 3-2 Phillies win. The experience stuck with him.
“I came here when I was with Houston, and it was loud,” he said. “I think it was a really tight game — 1-0, or something like that. But I definitely remember it being loud.”
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It was a bucket-list moment for Kody, who grew up facing his father in the backyard, but had never faced him in live batting practice at a big-league park.
“I’ve seen him a lot,” he said. “It was good. He throws really good BP. He’s been doing it for a while.
“If he was really going to throw off the mound, I bet he could be low or mid 80s, at 60 years old. He looked pretty good out there. He was throwing in the zone. We had a good time with it.”