BOSTON — Baseball legend Roger Clemens stepped back onto the pitcher’s mound at Fenway Park, delivering another fastball from the familiar spot.
This time, however, his son was positioned behind home plate as the catcher.
The former Boston ace, who holds the Red Sox record for strikeouts with 2,590, threw his ceremonial first pitch slightly to the right of the plate to his 30-year-old son Kody Clemens, a utility player for the Minnesota Twins, before Friday evening’s game between Minnesota and Boston.
The 63-year-old grandfather was pleased with the moment, especially with family members and grandchildren watching from the stadium seats.
“A little two-seamer. Didn’t slip, didn’t tear anything,” Clemens said. “Home plate seems to get farther and farther away every year. I don’t know what that’s about. But it’s kind of like the Ted Williams seat. I think we know no one’s going to hit one there and it keeps going up one row every year.”
Attendees received a commemorative Roger Clemens bobblehead as part of his return to Fenway Park.
This marked another father-son baseball moment for the Clemens family. Earlier in 2025, Roger and Kody shared pregame duties when they exchanged lineup cards during a spring training contest between the New York Yankees and Philadelphia Phillies, with Roger working for New York while Kody played for Philadelphia.
In 2006, Roger also shared the field with his eldest son Koby in the minor leagues when the then-43-year-old pitcher was completing a rehabilitation assignment with the Houston Astros during what would become his second-to-last major league campaign.
According to Roger, his family enjoys teasing him about certain baseball achievements that his son has accomplished that he never will.
“They’re always messing with me now because they said he’s done two things in professional ball that I never will: strike out (Shohei) Ohtani and hit a home run here at Fenway,” Clemens said.
One honor that still eludes the veteran pitcher is having his major league jersey number retired. The University of Texas honored their former standout as the first player to receive that recognition in 1993.
Although Clemens isn’t officially recognized on Boston’s honor roll, no full-time Red Sox player has worn his No. 21 since his departure following the 1996 season.
He expressed interest in potentially having the number retired by the Red Sox, the team where he spent the majority of his career.
“I don’t have any control over that, but I had 13 wonderful years here. I love that number,” Clemens said. “I thought it was really cool when I came out at Texas that they had it hanging in my locker. So, it’s been a great number for me. I went to 22 a little bit, and a lot of family members had that number, too. So both solid numbers.”
