Seven-time Cy Young winner Roger Clemens will be a part of ESPN’s Opening Night baseball coverage for a game between the World Series champion Astros and White Sox, according to a report from Brian McTaggart of MLB.com.
Clemens will join Karl Ravech, Eduardo Perez and Buster Olney to call the game on Thursday March 30 at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN.
Andrew Marchand of the New York Post notes that it will be a one time appearance for Clemens, as ESPN’s David Cone will be working on Yes Network for the Yankees season opener.
This is not the first time that Clemens has appeared as an analyst for ESPN, but it is the first time he has been featured on the lead broadcast for the network. The 60-year-old Clemens did a spring training game recently for ESPN and has also been a part of the “KayRod” alternate broadcast for Sunday Night Baseball featuring Alex Rodriguez and Yankees play-by-play announcer Michael Kay.
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Clemens is known for his outstanding career as a pitcher for multiple teams, including the Astros, whose game he will be calling on Opening Night. He has not been elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame due in large part to his frequent association with baseball’s “Steroid Era,” including his frequent appearances in 2007’s Mitchell Report, but has been close several times to making it to Cooperstown despite the controversy.
Clemens missed out on the Hall of Fame last year in his final year on the ballot, as he received 65.2% of the vote. He needed 75% of the ballot to make it to the Hall of Fame. The path for Clemens to make it to Cooperstown now resides with the era committee ballot, which will make or break his candidacy for enshrinement.
Over 24 seasons as a pitcher for the Red Sox, Blue Jays, Yankees and Astros, Clemens won 354 games, recorded 4,672 strikeouts and posted a career 3.12 earned run average. He also won two World Series titles in addition to his seven Cy Young awards and was named to 11 All-Star teams.
