Roger Clemens Reflects on Iconic Subway Series Bat Incident

New York, NY – Roger Clemens has shared his thoughts on the infamous incident from the 2000 Subway Series when he threw a broken bat at Mike Piazza. The event continues to spark conversation among baseball fans even 25 years later.

Clemens recalled the moment on a recent episode of his podcast, explaining the context behind what happened during that tense game. “TV made it look like it was five feet from him,” Clemens said. “I didn’t think it was that close to the guy, and I definitely wasn’t throwing it at him.”

He elaborated that his instinct was to react to a baseball potentially coming back at him after Piazza shattered his bat. “So, I broke down into my wonderful fielding position, and wouldn’t ya know, that bat took two hops, came right up into my freaking lap, and I just grabbed it and whistled it on down to the on-deck circle,” Clemens said. His actions led to chaos on the field, as players from both teams cleared the benches.

The broken bat incident was not part of Clemens’s strategy during the game. “Mike got in the box and I think my first three pitches were like 98, 98, 98. And I shattered his bat,” he stated, explaining the discussions he had with Yankees pitching coach Mel Stottlemyre prior to the at-bat.

In the end, Clemens retired Piazza, and the Yankees won the game 6-5, paving their way to a 4-1 victory in the World Series that year.