No conversation about the 2000 World Series is complete without mention of the Yankees’ Roger Clemens throwing a broken bat in the direction of the Mets’ Mike Piazza.
So when the Yankees celebrated their 2000 championship team during Saturday afternoon’s Old-Timers’ Day in the Bronx, the topic inevitably came up.
“I think if Mike knew that the ball was foul, he wouldn’t have been starting to run to first base,” said Joe Torre, the Yankees’ manager from 1996-2008.
“That ball went over the first-base dugout, was foul right away. He didn’t know where it was, so he started running. To me, at my vantage point, Rocket caught the bat and threw it off the field. It just so happened, there was Piazza.”
The moment occurred in Game 2 of that World Series when Piazza fouled off a pitch from Clemens and splintered his bat in the process.
The bat’s barrel veered toward Clemens, who scooped it on a couple of hops and quickly tossed it off of the field, right in front of Piazza, who had taken a few steps down the first-base line. Benches cleared, but the incident didn’t escalate, and Clemens ultimately threw eight shutout innings in a Yankees win.
“I didn’t know he was running, and Mike said that same thing, too,” Clemens, 63, said Saturday. “He didn’t know where the baseball was. But my first instinct when I shattered that bat in about four pieces, I thought I was getting a line drive right at me. I thought it was a baseball coming at me.”
Saturday marked Clemens’ first time attending Old-Timers’ Day. Clemens pitched for the Yankees from 1999-2003, then again in 2007, and went 83-42 with a 4.01 ERA, two championships and a Cy Young Award with the organization.
He said Saturday that he “loved” his time with the Yankees, which began with a blockbuster trade from the Toronto Blue Jays right after pitchers and catchers reported for 1999 spring training.
“They wanted to do the trade quick before some people got to spring training, and when I agreed to become a Yankee, obviously I was super excited,” Clemens said.
“My mom brought one of those satin, silk jackets that I had when I was a teenager. She said, ‘You know this has been hanging in the closet all these years.’ I had totally forgotten about my Yankee jacket.”
Clemens pitched Saturday in the first Old-Timers’ Day alumni game since 2019.
“Today’s great,” Clemens said afterward. “I’ve been trying to get back. I’ve been busy, doing stuff with the Astros, doing stuff for my foundation. We just celebrated 34 years of my foundation, helping at-risk children.”
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