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Roger Clemens apparently wanted no part of comparing New York Yankees All-Star Aaron Judge to previous sluggers accused of using performance-enhancing drugs during their careers.
Clemens, a former Yankees and Houston Astros starter, tossed the ceremonial first pitch ahead of Wednesday’s Game 1 of the American League Championship Series between those two clubs. The 60-year-old later fielded questions from reporters and was asked by Randy Miller of NJ Advance Media for NJ.com to compare Judge breaking Roger Maris’ record for AL single-season home runs to feats achieved by Barry Bonds, Mark McGwire, and Sammy Sosa.
“I was watching down the stretch when (Judge) was trying to get to that (62) number,” Clemens carefully answered. “I thought it was really cool that the Maris family was making the trips and going with him. That’s special. He’s a special player. He’s dangerous. It’ll be hard-pressed keeping him down or (Houston’s Jose Altuve) down.”
Like Bonds, McGwire, and Sosa, Clemens has been linked with PED use, so it’s understandable the retired right-hander would want little to do with such a question. Meanwhile, Clemens was also asked how he’d approach facing Judge if he was in his prime today.
“Very carefully,” Clemens responded. “Here (in Houston), you can pitch him away a little bit easier than in. I’d be curious to see how both those guys, him and (Giancarlo) Stanton, go at it with the short left field here.”
The Astros defeated the Yankees 4-2 in Game 1. Game 2 in Houston will take place Thursday evening.
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